


Moving Memories

by itabitaboo



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Multi, Supernatural Elements, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-11
Updated: 2014-08-17
Packaged: 2018-01-15 10:00:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 27
Words: 189,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1300861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itabitaboo/pseuds/itabitaboo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Due to unfortunate events, Naruto's life is turned upside down when he moves from his childhood country home into a place in the city. While starting at a university, he finds himself connecting with new people in new ways. He shifts from beings sure that his life is ending to wondering if his life is really only just beginning, but what secrets will his new friends be hiding? (Multiple characters involved at varying degrees of significance, Multiple pairings)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome To The Jungle

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't pretend to own Naruto. Well, not outside of my mind anyway.
> 
> Warnings for this fic:  
> —Blood. Hard to avoid altogether but if you're squeamish and can't handle at all, I'm warning you it's here.  
> —Substance abuse, though it's not that extensive.  
> —Physical, mental, and emotional abuse will all be both alluded to and described. It won't be gruesome though.  
> —Explicit content starts in chapter 17. (censored version of story on ff.net profile: fanfiction.net/u/4279606)
> 
> Expect the following without warning. It will not be repeated.  
> —Obviously there will be violence, nudity, and profanity. Hence the Explicit rating.
> 
> Author Note: Naru-Sasu is the main pair, but Gaara-Kiba & Sai-Sasu are the other significant pairs. Other unimportant pairs that are also present are Ita-Dei and Kisame-Temari. I guess Ita-Dei is kind of important though. Meh, I can't stop contradicting myself. Also, I've made a lot of crappy floor plans to illustrate various places in the story. This is mostly to keep my own self on track and it helps me be more realistic in my writing. In any case, I always post them at the end of their respective chapters. For example, the first time we are introduced to Sasuke's apartment, there will be a link to its layout at the end of that chapter. So, yeah, utilize the links if you want.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We meet our main character, Naruto, and get some insight into his perspective as he begins this new chapter of his life.

" _Let's travel_ ," Jiraiya said

" _It'll be fun_ ," Jiraiya said.

" _It's time to move on and move out_ ," Jiraiya said.

Y'know what? Jiraiya said alotta convincing things after Dad died, and I bought into em all like an idiot. I didn’t expect any of that to actually mean, "let's move into the city". And I'm talkin about the city that's only an hour and a half away from our perfectly comfortable country home.

It felt like the right time to "move on and move out" when we were supposed to be travelling and having fun, but that measly hour and a half between my old home and my new one is absolutely not travelling and it definitely isn't fun either. It was all just fancy talk that Jiraiya used to con me into moving.

I swear, my godfather really knows how to work me over, just like he could work Dad.

I guess I really am my father's son.

Jiraiya, the old fart, also failed to mention that moving on and moving out meant selling the house, and I mean sell as in completely give it away to strangers... forever. I dunno why any of this ever seemed reasonable to me...

Actually, the lies of fun and travel are definitely why.

Soon as that bullshit was taken outta the equation though, it all suddenly seemed so wrong. Selling the house didn't feel right at all. There were too many memories. Maybe it was just a house to Jiraiya, but it was _my_ home.

Dad did leave the house in Jiraiya's name, and at first I was pretty mad about that. I mean, why would my old man leave our home to someone who's not me? This was exactly what I feared would happen: Jiraiya just selling it when I moved out after graduation. But I think that's what Dad was actually hoping for

He must've known I'd hold on to it if I could. And, yeah, I would. Hell, I'd probably never leave if I could help it. I'd never do alotta things. Never go to college. Never grow bigger than small-town me. Never fall in love. I can imagine myself now: old, wrinkly, maybe a little pudgy, and the closest thing I'd have to a companion would be the horses in the barn and the pigs in the sty.

The worst part about all that isn't even the kinda man I'd’ve become. It's the fact that I would’ve been perfectly content to be that simple man living that life. I wouldn't’ve ever wanted more. Would’ve just been satisfied rocking away on that porch til death. Dad knew I loved that place way too much to ever leave it, even if it killed me and my dreams and all the potential he always swore he saw in me to stay.

It's been about two years since Dad passed away and almost one since graduation and I still don't wanna leave home, even though I'm really already gone.

From the perspective I have now, having already moved out and moved on, I can say that who I would’ve happily become would be a disgrace to both my parents. So, yeah, I understand Dad's reasoning, but the sting of having to let go never really faded. It may never fade. I can't be blamed if I'm so attached to the place though! That house had been my home my entire life. Mom lived and gave birth to me there, and she died there too. She held onto life just long enough to hold me, name me, and tell me how much she loved me before she died with me in her arms.

So maybe now you see a little bit of why I can't let that house go so easily. That house _was_ Mom. It was her spirit, her memory. And then it became Dad too. In fact, I wanted to bury dad way out in the back field by the ancient tree. That's where he used to take me when we would ride the horses together, a long time before he got sick. He told me that he and Mom used to go out there and watch the sunrise before they had me. I thought it was the perfect place to lay him to rest, but Jiraiya said no. Said Dad wouldn’t’ve wanted to be buried on the farm. He wanted to be buried by Mom in the village cemetery. Plus, it'd be just another tie I'd be unwilling to sever when the time came for us to move.

That house had already become the only thing I had left of my parents though. Sure, I did and still do have some possessions of theirs, but that house will always carry so much more of their energy than I could possibly fit in little trinkets and things. How do I let that go?

Dad never was big on material things or the idea of keeping shit just to keep it though. He always felt like it was selfish. As a kid, he used to warn me of this day. He'd say that one day we'd all have to leave the house in someone else's hands, and I didn't like the idea at all back then either. I remember him also telling me that the reason we had to go was because we had to make room for others to make memories there too, just like the people before us had done. I never understood back then what he meant when he told me that the house was not just Mom, but other people and their memories too.

Of course, I get it now. There comes a time when everyone has to let go. But I never had to actually give anything up. That was another thing that Dad taught me in so many ways. If it was ever really yours, it could never really be anything less. The things that truly matter live on in our hearts, things like memories and love. It doesn't matter if we have to let something go because if it's in our hearts, it's there to stay.

It took me a long time to get a lot of those lessons he taught me. But even though they've brought me understanding, they've done nothing to ease my heart. I thought that if I could live like the man Dad was, able to accept even the worst adversity and turn it around, then I would somehow feel more settled in my heart. But I realize that's not how it works. Just because you understand it doesn't mean you stop feeling strongly about a thing.

I can come to terms with the move. I can accept giving my home away. I can "move on and move out". But I can't stop feeling a huge sense of loss. No matter what kinda wisdom he tried to leave me with, I think even Dad would understand my complaining when it came to the subject of having to leave. But he probably would’ve said some wise riddles to distract me and urge me to learn a higher lesson from it all. That was so Dad's personality. He used to say a lot of things, things I sometimes couldn't unravel and decode until years later. His lessons mostly meant nothing to me at the time of teaching, but now that he's gone, it all makes a lot more sense.

I guess it's good that I got Jiraiya though. I'm nineteen and he really doesn't have to take care of me anymore, but he still wants to. I'll never admit this to him, but Jiraiya did save me, and Dad knew he would. If I'd’ve stayed in that house, I'd never be able to let go or move on. I mean, yeah, I should remember my parents, but I know getting stuck on their loss would just keep me from actually growing as a human being.

So Jiraiya is forcing me out into the world. That's what Dad wanted, and Mom too. They wanted me to grow up and move on. Jiraiya knows that, and that's why he sold the house. It's not like I don't understand. It's just hard. Like I said, understanding does nothing to ease the emotions.

When Jiraiya told me we’d be selling the house, I had to force myself to be okay with it, and that took some time. Then, he revealed that the fun travels he deceived me with actually just meant a shitty move into the shitty city, and he told me this while we were driving into the damned city to look at apartments. Then, he told me that I was moving into the apartment all by my damn self only after the lease was signed. Apparently, he had taken the liberty of beginning to get me enrolled into the university because he was going to be doing all that alleged fun travelling by himself too.

I would’ve normally been angry with him—in fact, I tried pretty hard to be angry—but I knew he was only trying to fulfill Mom and Dad's wishes. How could I be angry when it was so plain to see? He just wanted to help give me the things in life that my parents were robbed of sharing with me.

After a few days of coming to terms with everything, it did get easier. The hardest part was standing at my parents' graves. We'd packed everything up and moved most of it into my apartment. Jiraiya only kept what he really needed for his travels and the rest went into storage, was sold, or got donated. On our very last trip from the house, we went together to say goodbye to Mom and Dad. I couldn't say much. I just started crying. I knew it was only an hour and a half drive if I wanted to come visit their graves, but it all felt so final when we were standing there. It felt like I'd never be home again, but that was just because I'd had no experience with anywhere but that house. I had no idea that I could build another home, and that it didn't even have to be a place. A person could heal me too.

That brings me to where I am today and the story that I, Naruto Uzumaki, have to share.

This is a story about overcoming adversity. It’s a story about learning to find love and light in spaces of pure darkness, loneliness, and misery. It’s about discovering trust when all your faith has been shattered. It’s about picking yourself up when you need to. And when you can’t, then reach out and grab the hand of someone who loves you. Because this is also a story about how someone always loves you, as long as you can manage to love them back, and even sometimes when you can’t.

This is mostly a story about the other half of me, really, and how he gave me a home even more valuable than the structure I'd struggled so hard with leaving. Everything that my father ever taught me came to be useful when I met this man, almost as if my life had been leading me up until the moment that we found each other. This is about me too though, and how I found my true identity hiding in plain sight.

I’ve hated my small apartment, even though it actually is rather nice. Jiraiya has everything paid for, and I don't question how. I just thank him and give him all the dirty details about my life every time he calls, always from a different place.

I’ve hated this shitty city. Not just because it's nothing like the cool, clean country air that I miss, but also because there are too many dark corners to unsuspectingly walk into. And when you unfortunately do, you have to witness your life totally fall to shambles as a result while you can do nothing to stop it.

I’ve hated this university because… well… it's school and school is work. Not to mention, I gotta go way outta my way to find any good ramen joints.

I’ve hated alotta stuff about my new life, but there _is_ something that I’ve loved... hated to love most of the time, or maybe loved to hate... but loved nonetheless. There’s one thing that’s made me capable of rounding every awful smack of a difficult life back into happiness and gratitude, just like my dad always did.

Sasuke Uchiha is that one thing.

This city is a jungle, but living here has taught me that every place has its gnarly corners that you can’t escape. Every situation has its tangles, and you’ll get snagged up no matter what you do sometimes. But if Sasuke Uchiha is on the other side, then open up jungle cause I’m comin in, and you couldn’t stop me even if you tried with all your might.


	2. Paint Me A Memory

Naruto groaned unhappily as a ringing echoed incessantly throughout his bedroom. He rolled over in his bed to turn his back toward it, hoping it would just stop. The ringing, of course, persisted, so he rolled back over and slapped around his bedside table lazily for his phone.

"Hello?" he answered in a cold and croaky tone.

"Naruto! Glad to see you're awake at this time! Very diligent of you!" the far too cheerful voice greeted from the other end of the call.

"M'not, Jiraiya. Sleepin," Naruto responded dryly.

"Come on now! Wake up! Get some ramen! Talk to me!"

Naruto groaned loudly. "I haven't found even  _one_  good ramen place anywhere. I blame that on you." He grumbled an accusation about Jiraiya ruining his life as he sat up in his bed and rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes.

"Don't be so sour, Naruto," Jiraiya responded lightly. "You won't make any friends that way!"

Naruto scoffed. "The only friends I wanna make are the kind that you meet for a week before travelling off to Peru or Amsterdam. Oh, wait. That's your life, not mine."

"Alright! Alright! So crabby," Jiraiya whined at Naruto, who grunted in response. "I'm gonna believe it's cause I woke you up before noon. Yeah?"

"Jiraiya... it's one in the afternoon," Naruto informed. "Where the hell are you?"

"Oh! Ah, my bad," Jiraiya said apologetically. Naruto could sense that Jiraiya was becoming sheepish. "Hard to keep all these time zones in check!"

When the elder didn't continue with an answer, Naruto restated his question. "And...? Where the hell are you?"

"Uh..." Jiraiya considered lying for a moment, but he decided that the truth would be better, even if it would probably crush Naruto's spirit. "I'm in Amsterdam, actually."

Naruto rolled his eyes. Of course Jiraiya would be in one of the two places that Naruto was dying to be. That bastard.

"Yeah, whatever," Naruto mumbled.

"Well, you're unpleasant. You should start getting into a better schedule," Jiraiya advised. "School starts in a month, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever."

"Okay. Yeah, whatever," Jiraiya mocked. "You're grumpy so I'm gonna get off of the phone. I'll call you tomorrow instead, and try not to be so bitchy when I do."

Naruto wanted to continue being angry with Jiraiya, but he couldn't help but at least chuckle at the funny statement and soften his attitude. "Yeah. Whatever," he answered dramatically, causing Jiraiya to laugh too.

"Alright," Jiraiya said softly.

A silence lingered between them momentarily, but it was rich with affection. Even from a world away, Naruto could sense his godfather missing him.

"Bye, Naruto!" Jiraiya said brightly, attempting to bury his loneliness, even though Naruto could hear it anyway.

Naruto simply grunted in place of a salutation. He, too, felt a loneliness that he did not wish to reveal. Upon ending the phone call, Naruto fell back into his mattress and sighed. His life in the city really wasn't that bad. He just didn't want Jiraiya to know that he somewhat liked it, because Naruto really did miss home and he really did wish he could be traveling with Jiraiya instead. He wouldn't admit a liking to the city. He just wouldn't.

' _Maybe,_ ' he thought to himself, ' _I should make friends. It does get really boring in_  here.' He paused and chewed his lip in thought. ' _Meh! Whatever!_ '

With that thought squashed, he decided to go on a hunt for any interesting events going on today. But first, he had to have some ramen.

**~ ( >^.^)> <(^.^<) ~**

Naruto sighed with disappointment as he meandered around the art gallery he'd entered. He did rather like art. He didn't have the patience or skill to actually create it, but he didn't mind looking at it. This gallery, however, was especially uninteresting. He had only gone inside to kill some time. He was bored and wandering around near his apartment to see if there was anything interesting going on, and the gallery looked decent enough from outside. In the end, his curiosity pulled him inside.

All of the art was good enough, but none of it really interested him. None of it was terrible or anything. He just didn't feel moved by any of it. It was good enough to stare at and pass the time, but it was not quite something he would say that he liked. He wasn't sure exactly what he liked in art, but he did know that whatever was all over these walls wasn't quite nailing it. A piece in the far corner caught his attention though. He walked over to admire the work—bright colors splashed all about the canvas in a haphazard manner. Off to one side was a small, dark, hooded figure that the color did not touch. There was a small field of white canvas surrounding the figure's body. Naruto cocked his head in thought.

"You like it?" a voice asked from behind him, causing him to startle a bit. He blushed lightly at his own embarrassing reaction.

"Oh... uh... yeah." Naruto smiled and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "It's pretty cool."

"Cool?" the man repeated. There was obvious curiosity in his tone of voice, which was also alight in his brown eyes. "Why?"

"Um... well..." Naruto trailed off momentarily. He didn't like making art talk because the people who made it were often crude and snobby. He looked back at the painting, trying but failing to follow at least one strip of color as it weaved its way through the rest. The colors intertwined into a tangle of pure chaos, and Naruto felt as though it, somehow, echoed himself, which was something he did not particularly know how to casually express to a stranger. "It makes you wonder," he answered simply.

The boy nodded and brushed a shaggy lock of dark brown hair away from the eye it had fallen in front of. The silence as the stranger dissected Naruto's response seemed to stretch on endlessly, causing Naruto's anxiety about being judged to spike. While Naruto felt that the man's energy was actually quite inviting, he could not stand the air of scrutiny. Naruto was acutely aware of the fact that his artistic point of view was heavily underdeveloped. After all, he was not gifted in the realm of making art himself at all.

"Mysterious, maybe," Naruto supplied uneasily. "Is that the word?" he mumbled afterward, feeling sillier with each moment that passed by.

"I know the artist," the brunet replied. "And mysterious is definitely a word I'd use to describe him," he explained. He offered his hand to Naruto with a warm smile. "I'm Kiba."

Naruto shook hands politely and smiled back. "I'm Naruto," he introduced. "So, you know the artist?" he asked.

He was thankful for the branch to steer the conversation away from making him feel and sound like a goof. Better to talk about something he knew very well - people - and segue right to the artist himself.

Kiba's smile turned mischievous in the wake of Naruto's interest. "I do," he assured. "My boyfriend works with him. I can... uh... getcha in with him." Kiba paused and wagged his brows suggestively. "—if you want."

Naruto laughed awkwardly as he realized what Kiba was insinuating. "Uh, no... I wasn't saying... I mean... I wasn't... I'm not..."

Kiba waved a quieting hand. "Nah, I get it. My bad." He shrugged. "Most people already know him when they come for his art. He has quite the reputation that way."

"Do you always just hang around his art?" Naruto asked skeptically, wondering if this guy wasn't actually a creep.

"Oh, no!" Kiba assured, picking up on Naruto's scrutiny of his integrity. "Well, yeah, actually," Kiba amended.

The warm laugh that followed began to assure Naruto that Kiba was too kind to be a creep. Or maybe that was just the perfect cover so that people didn't suspect him. It's always the subdued, nice ones that turn out to be crazy stalkers.

"Like I said," Kiba began to explain. "My boyfriend works with him. He's my... friend... kinda."

Naruto could tell that the description was awkward for Kiba, as if he didn't know  _what_  to consider this guy, but Kiba didn't let the uncertainty linger.

"I always come to try and help sell their art," Kiba wen ton. "Whenever they've got enough and are willing to show anyway. This particular gallery only started showing em last night." Kiba started glancing around their surroundings. "My boyfriend's around here somewhere," he assured. "Probably desperately avoiding buyers." He grinned that warm smile again. "That's what I'm for," he added with pride. "Gaara's not very social."

Naruto nodded in understanding. Kiba's explanation seemed genuine enough, so he probably wasn't a creep. "So you try to help this guy out as well?" Naruto asked, gesturing to the painting.

Kiba laughed. "Nah, he really doesn't need help. His work sells before I even have a chance to try," he admitted.

"Wow. Some sorta famous," Naruto commented.

"He's popular among many groups for many reasons, but usually people just come to shack up with him honestly," Kiba informed. "I've tried to hook him up with at least a billion people, but he always turns em down." Kiba shrugged. "Like I said, he has quite the reputation, so I usually only market Gaara's stuff. My boyfriend," he explained. "It's pretty dead today though. Not alotta biters."

"So bored you can't help but try to sell this one too then?" Naruto joked lightly.

"Actually," Kiba began, "this is the only one left of his lot that hasn't sold. I saw you really admiring it, and that intrigued me, because nobody ever really  _admires_  his work. It's mostly just fangirls that come and snatch up his shit in hopes that he'll be around to notice them and thank them personally for their devotion." Kiba rolled his eyes at the idea. "He doesn't care though, as long as it gets sold." Kiba's eyes drifted back to the piece of work that he so obviously admired. "This is the first time in a long time I've seen someone actually  _look_  at his work," he admitted. "And it really is a good one to admire too. I'd buy it if I were you."

Naruto smiled. "You're good at selling these things."

"This one is special," Kiba said after a moment's pause, looking back at Naruto. He leaned forward and glanced around cautiously, as if he was about to divulge a secret. "I had them tuck it away in a corner and leave the artist's name off of it," he admitted.

Naruto chuckled lightly. "I thought you wanted it to sell?" he pointed out. "Why not just let his fanbase snatch it up like the rest of em?"

"Because I wanted someone real to buy it," Kiba informed. "I wanted someone to buy it who'd appreciate it every day for the rest of its life. This painting..." Kiba's eyes drifted away to regard the work again. "-is deep. Probably the deepest thing he's ever made in my opinion. _I_ see it. I see that _you_ see it too," he added, looking back at Naruto. "So you're the perfect buyer."

"If he's so talented, then it'll sell regardless, won't it?" Naruto suggested.

"Sure," Kiba agreed. "Or maybe its meant to be yours. Maybe that's why it's still waiting for you."

"Ah, of course." Naruto smiled and turned to regard the painting again. Somehow, Kiba was speaking right from Naruto's own heart. This painting did call to him. "Which part do you think he is?" Naruto asked.

"Huh?" Kiba asked in confusion.

"Is he the color? Is he the figure? Or is he the barrier between?" Naruto continued to analyze the painting.

"That's a question you should ask him," Kiba answered. "You should meet us," he started and Naruto turned to look at him with slight apprehension.

' _Shit,_ ' he thought. ' _I think I'm making friends._ '

Kiba smiled warmly at Naruto the way he was, obviously, one to do. "We're all meeting up for beers at Akatsake later."

"Uhh... I'm... I'm not twenty-one," Naruto answered, feeling instantly uncool.

Kiba laughed. "None of us are, but the owner's cool with us. It's no problem as long as you're not driving."

"Alright," Naruto conceded, deciding that having a few beers wouldn't be so bad. "Where's this place at?"

Kiba gave him a weird look. "Where's Akatsake?" he tried to clarify. "If you don't know, then..."

Naruto got the feeling he was about to be uninvited very quickly. "I just moved in around here," he explained.

"Oh," Kiba said, looking apprehensive.

"But I'd love to come!" Naruto added eagerly. "To meet..." He gestured to the painting, glancing at it once more before looking back at Kiba again. "-the mystery."

Kiba smiled. "Alright," he agreed impulsively, yet somewhat uncertainly.

For some reason, he had a feeling that Naruto was destined to walk into their lives tonight. Who was he to try to rewire fate. He could only play along and hope that things went as smoothly as they could. While he had a feeling that he might be doing the wrong thing, Kiba was also quite sure that it was very much so right too. He liked Naruto a lot already, and he had a feeling that, even if things went as badly as they could potentially go tonight, Naruto was bound to become a fixed point in his life anyway. He'd find a way to navigate it no matter what. honestly, he'd be doing his friends a great service bringing this guy into their lives. They'd see it the same way. They'd just have to.

"It's about two blocks up the street," Kiba explained. "Lemme give you my number and you can call if you get lost."

Naruto nodded and handed over his phone.

Kiba entered his number as he spoke. "We'll be there at eight."

When he handed Naruto's phone back with a smile that had returned to fully inviting. Naruto smiled back just as warmly.

"So... uh... how much is the painting?" Naruto asked.

Kiba clapped him on the back of the shoulder in a friendly manner. "That's another thing you should ask the artist," he said. If he was in this deep already, then he might as well just take it all the way. "He has no idea I tucked it away and took off the price," he informed mischievously. "Who knows what he wants to sell it for. I don't remember." He smiled one last warming smile at Naruto and walked away.

Naruto decided that he rather liked Kiba. He looked over the painting one last time. He was very curious about the artist. He actually wanted to buy the painting after talking to Kiba. He'd have to ask Jiraiya to wire him the money for it. Hopefully, he wouldn't complain too much about Naruto needing a job. Naruto smiled. He was making friends and it actually felt nice. He liked it. Perhaps, it wouldn't be so bad here after all.

**~ ( >^.^)> <(^.^<) ~**

Naruto huffed as he furiously unbuttoned his shirt. His search for the proper attire for his meeting with Kiba had quickly grown tiresome. Why was he so stressed out about what he would wear anyway? Who really cared? It wasn't like he even knew these guys. He had never been this type of guy. He had never cared what others thought. He was never concerned with first impressions because he was very likable, and he knew it. He didn't  _have_  to care. Back in his hometown, it was a rare occasion that he met someone new. Whenever he did, though, he didn't have to worry about the kind of impression he was making. He was naturally sociable. People liked him. So what was the big deal now? Kiba liked him enough to invite him out for drinks. Why was he so freaked out? Why was he so worried about what shirt to wear?

"Fuck," Naruto cursed as a button near the bottom of his shirt popped off.

It was his nicest dress shirt too, and now it was missing a goddamn button.

' _Just my luck,_ ' Naruto groaned internally.

Suddenly coming to the conclusion that a shirt as nice as this one was a poor choice for a few casual beers anyway, he ripped off the shirt, unconcerned with the remaining buttons. He turned from his mirror to his closet and tossed the damaged shirt to the floor. This fashion crisis was making him far too edgy. He was inexplicably troubled about this first meeting with his first potential friends, and he was taking it out on his dress shirts. He sighed with annoyance as he rummaged with little interest through the clothes hanging inside his closet.

"Bah! Fuck it," he finally groaned. "I'll wear..." He looked around his messy room and spotted an orange t-shirt on the floor. "—that! I'll wear that!" he exclaimed decidedly. He picked it up to determine its cleanliness. After smelling it, he nodded in approval. "It'll do."

He pulled the shirt on and looked at himself in the mirror, and then he regretted the choice immediately. He wanted to change... again. He suddenly didn't like the way his washed out, holy jeans looked with the shirt. It was too casual now. He moved his hands to the button of his pants and was just about to rip them off in a flurry when his phone beeped loudly from his bed. He muttered a disgruntled grumble. It was the alarm that he'd set for 7:45 to remind himself not to be late. Since he was suddenly so concerned with first impressions, he didn't want his first potential friends to get the impression that he wasn't punctual, even if he notoriously wasn't.

He contemplated his plan of action for a long moment before deciding to leave the pants in favor of arriving on time, assuming he didn't get lost on the way. He could barely remember how to get back to the art gallery. Plus, he would have to walk all the way there if he wanted those underage beers. Kiba had said it was fine only if he didn't drive. He picked up a black jacket and threw it on, grabbing his keys, his wallet, and his phone in a rush and shoving them in his pockets. He left his apartment quickly. He wasn't actually sure fifteen minutes would be enough time to get there and he didn't want to waste too much of it. He found his way to the art gallery that he and Kiba had met at and continued up the block.

"Kiba said it was two blocks up this way." He stepped off of the sidewalk into the street to get a better look down the road. "But that all looks so... dead. There's no way there's a bar up there."

He continued walking anyway and decided that he should call Kiba just to be sure. He pulled out his phone but suddenly decided that he didn't want to have an awkward phone call be their first post-invitation conversation. They had gotten along pretty damn well at the gallery. If they had a weird exchange on the phone, then that would ruin the illusion of their pre-established friendship-type-thing. He decided that texting would be best.

' _Can't be awkward there,_ ' he thought to himself.

He sent Kiba a text asking for confirmation on his whereabouts and then patiently waited for Kiba's reply as he passed a whole other block. He was coming up on his second block, the one that Kiba said the bar would be on, and Kiba still hadn't replied, so he began to search through his contacts hesitantly.

"I guess I'm gonna  _have_  to call him," he murmured aloud.

He really didn't want to create any awkwardness between the two of them, but he had no choice. He was lost. The phone rang through to voicemail and Naruto sighed. Maybe Kiba was only joking with him. Maybe Kiba didn't actually want Naruto to come and he had just sent him on a wild goose chase for fun. He stopped midway up the block in front of an alley to contemplate calling Kiba again.

"Naruto!" Kiba called from down the alley. "Hey! I was a little worried to be honest!"

The first thing that crossed Naruto's mind was the question of why the hell Kiba was in such a sketchy place. He was in a dead neighborhood, in a dark alley. Maybe Kiba really  _was_  a creep. But at least he was there, and Naruto was likely not the butt of some awful joke. Creep or no creep, Naruto was just glad to see the familiar face.

"Hey!" Naruto began to walk toward Kiba. "I... uh... I tried calling you."

"Yeah, and texting," Kiba acknowledged, holding up his phone and waving it. "Sorry bout that. I didn't notice, but I caught a glimpse of the clock inside and noticed it was past eight, so I checked my phone and came out to track you down. I shoulda just offered to pick you up or something but, luckily, you were just right there when I walked out!" Kiba flashed that inviting smile and Naruto's nerves eased. He had forgotten how nice Kiba was.

' _There's no way he's a creep. This is just a creepy place._ '

"So... inside?" Naruto suggested. "Where's that?"

"Right! It's through here." Kiba motioned toward a door just behind him. "Akatsake is pretty underground. A... friend..." There was that apprehension in Kiba's voice again, as if 'friend' might not be the correct term. Naruto brushed it off as easily as Kiba though. "—owns the bar, but his family is really against the whole owning a bar thing, so he keeps it on the down low. Y'know, just trying to keep his snobby parents off of his back. They let him keep it as long as it doesn't tarnish their reputation. Being underground keeps out all the people we don't want anyway, right?"

Naruto couldn't help the feeling that Kiba's explanation was rushed, which made him question its integrity. Nonetheless, he chose to trust the man and his intentions to be pure enough.

"Yeah, right," Naruto agreed, chuckling softly and relaxing.

Kiba was was friendly, talkative, and light-spirited. It was like they were long lost brothers. They were definitely going to get along. In fact, Naruto found himself kind of admiring Kiba. Kiba intuitively picked up on Naruto's warming energy. He could also tell that Naruto was open and spirited like himself. It seemed to take Naruto a bit of reasonable warming up to get to that point, but Kiba wasn't sure if he should interpret Naruto's new attitude as friendly or something a little bit more suggestive. He was always analyzing people and feeling them out, but he was pretty good at keeping that side hidden. You'd never be able to tell if he was judging you. He didn't know exactly what Naruto's new vibe meant, but he chose to believe it was strictly friendly. More than anyone, Kiba understood how easy it was, being a friendly person himself, for people to confuse nice with flirty. He was always caught in that misconception. That was probably all that was happening between Naruto and himself right now, so he smiled his trademarked smile and returned the energy.

"Let's go in," Kiba offered as he opened the door and lead Naruto in, "so you can meet the guys! I'm glad you came, Naruto," he continued as he lead him down a staircase and then down a hallway littered with drunken couples apparently hooking up. "I was a bit worried you wouldn't. I thought maybe I was comin on too strong."

Naruto automatically perked up as he heard the words. ' _Does that mean he was coming on to me?_ '

Kiba laughed heartily. "I do that sometimes. It really makes Gaara mad. He says I'm too friendly," Kiba added. "Can you believe that? How can you be  _too_  friendly?"

"Yeah," Naruto answered, somewhat subdued. He wasn't sure what to make of Kiba anymore. Was he just mixing up Kiba's intentions or was Kiba really coming on to Naruto even though he had a boyfriend?

"He can seem a bit standoffish, but once you get to know him he's really great," Kiba assured. "He's not really social, but he's actually super open-minded. You just gotta get in his good graces. He'll love you, though! You're just like me! You'll definitely get along. He'll have no choice but to submit to that likable personality of yours." Kiba's smiled shined bright as he glanced over his shoulder at Naruto.

' _Like me? Oh, that's it. I'm definitely their new boy toy!_ ' Suddenly, Naruto was panicked.

Kiba picked up on the shift immediately and his smile faltered. They were nearing the bar entrance now and Naruto could hear the sound of a live band growing louder.

"But, hey, don't worry!" Kiba tried to comfort. "Don't be nervous or anything! I know I paint Gaara as a scary guy, but he's not. Like I said, he'll love you!"

Kiba slapped Naruto's shoulder reassuringly and offered him another smile as he planted a hand firmly on the door that they now stood in front of. Naruto nodded nervously. He wasn't sure how to feel anymore. Kiba took the nod earnestly and leaned into the door. As it opened, the music of the band grew exceptionally loud.

Naruto followed Kiba in and examined his surroundings. The bar was a fairly decent size. It was full of people but not too packed. There was ample room on the dance floor. To his left was the stage, on which an alternative band now played. To his right were tables and just beyond, the bar. Even further to the right, in a narrow cove, were more tables. Most of the tables were occupied by groups. Kiba began walking toward the bar and Naruto followed. As they neared the bar, the music dimmed a bit. Here, it made good background music. It wasn't so loud to the point that you'd have to shout over it. Kiba leaned over the bar and requested a pitcher of beer from a tall, slender man with long, black hair that was tied back in a ponytail. He smiled and nodded at Kiba as he started to fill their pitcher.

"And who's your friend?" he asked skeptically, nodding at Naruto.

"This is Naruto! Naruto," Kiba continued as he regarded the blond, "this is Itachi. Ita owns the place."

"Oh, okay," Naruto smiled.

The uncertainty between Kiba and himself was waning. He didn't really want to worry about it. He just wanted to have fun.

"I won't be driving tonight. You can be sure of that," Naruto explained as he stepped up on a bar stool rung and leaned across the bar, reaching his hand all the way over to offer a handshake.

His father had always taught him to do the bulk of the work. Meeting someone and expecting them to reach all the way across the bar to shake  _your_  hand was just absurd. Itachi stared blankly at Naruto for a moment before bursting into laughter. He set the pitcher down in front of Kiba and stepped up on something behind the bar to get extra leverage as he swatted Naruto's hand away.

"I like you!" he exclaimed as he trapped Naruto in a friendly hug. It lasted only a moment before Itachi retreated and stepped down, prompting Naruto to do the same. "I hug people that I like here," Itachi explained, "but how  _did_  you get here, Naruto?"

"Umm..." Naruto stammered, still recovering from the surprise hug.

"He walked," Kiba answered for him. "No keys to confiscate."

"In that case," Itachi began as he threw his hands up in good cheer, "enjoy the beer."

Kiba thanked Itachi and picked up the beer, beckoning Naruto to follow. Naruto gave Itachi a friendly nod as he complied. He decided that he rather liked Itachi too. Naruto had expected to be led through the crowd some more so he was surprised to find that Kiba set the pitcher down at a table that was only a few feet away. There sat two boys, both with a scowl. The redhead was scowling at Naruto and the one with black hair was scowling at the bartender.

"Hi," Naruto offered as he smiled happily at the boys. Despite their uninviting expressions, he was feeling rather bright at the moment. He really liked this bar so far.

Noticing the lack of response, Kiba shot the black-haired boy a warning glare as he slapped the redhead on the arm. "Guys! This is Naruto."

The redhead sighed and rolled his eyes, full of disapproval, to rest on Kiba. It was as if they were sharing an unspoken thought. Kiba responded by slapping him on the arm again.

"Hello. My name is Gaara," the redhead finally offered as he sank back in his chair and folded his arms.

Kiba sighed as he offered Naruto an apologetic look. Naruto shrugged off the intensity of the situation and sat down at the table, removing his jacket. He had decided that first impressions weren't important at all, since these guys were making terrible ones. He knew he couldn't do worse as long as he was just himself. He smiled brightly at the redhead.

"It's cool. Since you don't know me, I'll just tell you something about myself!" Naruto suggested to break the ice. Internally, he was rejoicing. If he  _was_  meant be Kiba and Gaara's little... toy... then Gaara was clearly not having it. He was in the clear. He didn't have to worry about navigating an awkward sexcapade tonight!

Gaara's expression softened. However, the black-haired boy kept an unwavering scowl trained behind the bar.

"Okay, so I'm Naruto. I'm nineteen. I'm starting at University this year. I like the color orange. It's my favorite! And... um... Oh! I love ramen!" Naruto said cheerily.

Gaara's attitude was growing lighter by the moment. Naruto had that effect on people, just like Kiba. Recognizing this, Kiba took the opportunity to continue the sharing circle in hopes that Gaara would open up even more. "Okay! So I'll go next! I'm Kiba. I'm nineteen. My favorite color is... hm..." He smiled coyly at Gaara. "—the color of my dear Gaara's hair." He ran his fingers through it, eliciting a genuine smile from the redhead. "I'm also starting at university. We all are, actually," Kiba explained as he turned to Naruto. "And I love fish!"

"Way too much," Gaara added with a smirk. Kiba's chest puffed up noticeably with pride at the change of Gaara's attitude. "Gaara. I'm twenty," Gaara continued as he nodded in approval at Naruto. "I like beer," he finished as he sat up to fill his mug.

Naruto and Kiba chuckled as Gaara offered to fill their mugs too. He even filled the fourth mug at the table and Kiba gave Naruto a look that clearly boasted something along the lines of 'didn't I tell you he'd like you'. After taking sips from their mugs, all three men turned their gaze to the last one. The dark-haired man had dropped his scowl and was now staring at the bubbles in his beer. Gaara elbowed him, which earned him a glare.

"Well, this is Sasuke," Gaara began. "He's a twenty-year-old, antisocial bitch who likes the soul-sucking color of black and he probably eats innocent kittens for dinner."

Naruto and Kiba laughed at Gaara's joke.

"You're the antisocial one, baka," Sasuke countered, but he didn't seem to lighten up. "My favorite color  _is_  black though." He turned his attention to Naruto and added, "I hate ramen."

His voice was flat and his eyes were void of any indication of emotion, positive or negative, but his lips twitched up into a subtle smirk. Naruto cocked his head to the side as he analyzed the man. He smiled at Sasuke and got the impression that Sasuke had actually taken a liking to him, no matter how stoic he seemed resolved to remain. Sasuke rejected the smile with a sneer though.

"Sasuke is the artist I was talking about, Naruto," Kiba blurted out, desperate for something to break the tension Sasuke was filling the air with. It was apparently, the wrong choice of words. Both Sasuke and Naruto stiffened up at the statement, but both for very different reasons. Naruto was now plagued with questions and new anxiety. He had been obsessing about meeting that artist all day and now he was right in front of him. What should he say? Sasuke, on the other hand, was suspicious of Kiba's intentions.

"What were you talking about me for?" Sasuke questioned. "Is this another one of your projects, Kiba?"

"Please," Kiba scoffed, "does he look like a lady?"

"I just thought you finally got the hint or, rather, gave up on your joke of sending my fangirls," Sasuke informed. "They're not my type."

"Nope," Kiba reassured. "He was admiring your work when I ran into him at the gallery earlier. That's all."

"So, I was wondering—" Naruto began before being cut off. He wanted to know about the work. He wanted the price, the details, the story.

"What work?" Sasuke interrupted Naruto, glaring at Kiba. "It's all been sold."

"Ahhh, yeah, about that," Kiba started to explain.

He knew that Sasuke would probably be mad. Kiba had tried to talk to Sasuke about the piece before it was taken to the gallery. He felt like they finally had something deep to connect over. He was just as curious then as Naruto was now. He wanted to know why Sasuke painted it and how Sasuke felt. That was a joke though, expecting  _Sasuke_  to divulge his emotions. Bah! He simply did not speak about his art, but it hadn't stopped Kiba from being curious. This was an especially moving piece if you knew Sasuke like Kiba did.

The conversation had grown pretty tense, however, and Sasuke warned Kiba to let it be. He said that he just wanted to be rid of it like any other piece of art that he painted. It wasn't up for discussion. That was why Kiba tucked it away to begin with. Sasuke seemed so touchy about it. It meant something, even if he didn't want to admit it. He knew that Sasuke would be angry when he found out though. He had done exactly what Sasuke was trying to avoid. He had prompted... no,  _facilitated_  someone's desire to find Sasuke and actually try to  _talk_  about the painting and, unavoidably, his feelings.

"What the hell did you do, Kiba?" Sasuke questioned angrily.

"Calm down," Gaara warned Sasuke.

"I just thought it should be given to someone who'd appreciate it. Naruto is definitely that guy," Kiba defended. "I figured that someone who really cared about it, like Naruto, would inquire after it if I removed the price and your name."

"You son of a—"

"Hey!" Gaara threatened. "Calm the fuck down!"

"I was only tryna do the right thing," Kiba defended.

"The right thing would've been to respect my wishes as the artist and kindly fuck the fuck off," Sasuke spat, earning an angry glare from Gaara.

Gaara was, clearly, very protective of his companion. Kiba placed his hand on the back of Gaara's neck, extending his thumb to rest beneath Gaara's ear just behind the hinge of his jaw. He rubbed the skin there with his thumb gently to comfort his partner. They seemed really close. And the closer, the better. It was just further confirmation that Naruto wasn't their potential boy toy or that Kiba wasn't trying to cheat on Gaara. Sasuke chugged his beer quickly and slammed down his cup.

He looked at Naruto with an exceptionally hard to read expression. "It's not for sale anymore. In fact, it's comin down tonight."

With that, Sasuke stood roughly from his chair. He seemed to calm down a bit as he looked around the table at all three men while he shrugged on his jacket. He didn't offer a goodbye, though, when he turned to leave. Itachi shouted goodbye to Sasuke from across the bar, but Sasuke only lifted his middle finger in response.

"So that's mystery," Naruto commented as he watched Sasuke slip out through the cloud. He looked back to Kiba. "Definitely the right word," he added as he sipped his beer.

Kiba chuckled and nodded emphatically.

"What's his problem?" Naruto asked.

"What isn't?" Gaara joked.

"Actually..." Kiba shared a mischievous glance with Gaara, whose expression softened surprisingly down into the same mischievous glint. "-I think he liked you."

_To be continued..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here are the layouts for Akatsake (the smaller diagram on the left shows you how to get into Akatsake and the larger one is inside the bar) and Naruto's apartment.
> 
> http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u226/RainbowsWorthRain/Fic-Related/Tonys_zpsdafda23a.png
> 
> http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u226/RainbowsWorthRain/Fic-Related/NarutosFloorPlanForMovingMemories_zps5dab65b6.png


	3. Exorcise My Demons

Naruto stared at Kiba in astonishment. ' _Is this guy crazy?_ ' he found himself questioning.

"You think he liked me?" Naruto asked incredulously. Kiba smiled wide. "If you think  _that_  was taking a  _liking_  to someone, then you're delusional. That would explain why you thought Gaara would like me too. You, clearly, don't know what it means to  _like_  someone."

"I like you," Gaara defended quickly. "Who said I didn't?"

"Uh, your glowering face for the majority of the time that I've been here," Naruto answered, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

"I'm not glowering at you anymore," Gaara stated in the same obvious tone.

"Well," Naruto said, "you  _were_! Just because you're not  _now_  doesn't mean you weren't!"

"True," Kiba agreed, "but I said Gaara would like you, not that he'd like you from the second he met you and I think I can remember telling you that he takes a bit of warming up." Naruto scowled at the pair. They were proving him wrong so easily.

"Well, whatever! That's not the point!" he exclaimed. "The point is that—" Naruto gestured to where Sasuke had just been seated. "— _that_ was loathing, not liking."

"Yeah, but loathing is typical of Sasuke," Gaara informed. "If he took to you brightly I'd be concerned for his mental health."

"Well, that's great," Naruto said sarcastically. "If he's not absolutely unpleasant, then he's off his rocker. What a fun guy."

"He's... fun," Kiba defended, but it was clear that he only partially believed himself. "He can be, anyway. He's got his... well... he's... he's complex, okay? He isn't as bad as he seems. Just a bit sour that I went behind his back like that. If anything, he loathes  _me_  and you by association."

"If that's your attempt at comforting me," Naruto began, "it's terrible. I feel like shit."

"Why?" Gaara questioned loudly. "Who gives a fuck what Sasuke thinks of you? It's Sasuke."

"I give a fuck!" Naruto exclaimed. "I came here mostly to meet him."

"What? Are you in lo~ve with him?" Gaara teased.

"I want his painting! And I sure can't have it if he's loathing me by association, can I?" argued Naruto.

"Naruto's a lot like me, Gaara," Kiba began to explain. "When people are mad at him, it tugs at his heart. He's a sensitive soul."

"Am not!" Naruto defended quickly.

Kiba and Gaara shared a laugh. "Are too," argued Gaara.

"Oh, whatever! Shut up," Naruto demanded. "I'm just… I want that painting. That's all."

"You want that Sasuke too, don't you?" Gaara jested.

"We're just poking fun at you," Kiba said playfully. "You  _do_  have a sensitive soul though. So do I!" Kiba added when Naruto glared at him. "Who cares? Why deny it? It's nothing to be ashamed of. It just means you're a good guy. Right, Gaara?" Kiba turned expectant eyes to his companion.

"Sure," Gaara said dismissively. "In any case, I'll bet you can still get it."

"Excuse me?" Kiba interjected. "I said, isn't that right?"

Gaara sighed. "Of course, dear," Gaara agreed. "Your sensitive soul makes you a great guy. No, a wonderful guy, no, stupendous, no—" Gaara's dramatized excitement grew until he was just about to shout when Kiba slapped his hand firmly against Gaara's mouth, laughing at him.

"Al _right_ ," he said, chuckling, "I get it. Don't get carried away."

Gaara removed Kiba's hand from his mouth. "How can I not when it comes to you?"

Kiba swooned. "You're so good appeasing me."

"What are boyfriends for?" Gaara said jokingly. He, then, placed a swift kiss on Kiba's lips and returned his attention back to Naruto.

"So, anyway, I'll bet you can still get it," Gaara repeated. "Probably Sasuke, too," he added with a wink.

"Yeah?" Naruto asked with interest. "And how's that?"

"Well, he  _did_  like you," Gaara pointed out.

"Not  _that_ ," Naruto interrupted quickly. "I mean the painting!"

Gaara chuckled. "Lemme finish," he insisted. "He did like you enough to stick around and humor you. Trust me, Sasuke has his signs that I can read. I'll bet he'd hand it over if you just asked nicely. Maybe propose a trade."

Naruto rolled his eyes at the suggestion. "He did  _not_  like me."

"He liked you before Kiba went and told him about the painting," Gaara pointed out, turning an accusatory eye to Kiba.

Despite Sasuke's temper and attitude, he could be fun with a few drinks in him and in the right mood. He was Kiba and Gaara's favorite... friend... and they didn't get him in a good mood very often. Gaara was a bit annoyed that Kiba had to go and run him off like that after a mere half an hour.

"Hey," Kiba began to defend himself, "that's the whole reason I invited Naruto! I said he could meet Sasuke over beers. What was I supposed to do?"

"Not piss Sasuke off," Gaara offered, raising an eyebrow and daring Kiba to argue.

"Yeah," Naruto added and Kiba turned to him with a look of betrayal.

"You're accusing me of treason too?" Kiba exclaimed.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders in what was supposed to be innocence. "You dug your own grave."

With that, Kiba made to punch Naruto's arm playfully but fell off of his bar stool. Gaara, of course, reacted quickly to keep his companion from falling, but then joined Naruto in a riotous laugh at his expense. Kiba, unable to deny the humor in the situation, joined in. After a great deal of laughter, though, Kiba got serious.

"It's not funny," he said with a valiant attempt at pouting.

"There's that sensitive soul of yours," Naruto pointed out wittily and they all chuckled.

"Seriously, though," Gaara began, "what's so interesting about that painting?"

"I dunno," Naruto answered, shrugging his shoulders and trying to seem casual, like he wasn't all that interested. "It's… interesting, I guess. I think it says a lot. About Sasuke, I mean."

"So do I," Kiba agreed swiftly. "I'm glad that someone understands my point of view." With that, Kiba shot Gaara a sideways glance. Clearly, they had disagreed over it.

"What d'you think of it?" Naruto asked Gaara.

"I think that all of Sasuke's work says something," Gaara said matter-of-factly.

"What?" Kiba exclaimed automatically. "You do?"

"Well, yeah," Gaara said as if the answer should have been obvious.

"I didn't know that," Kiba replied. "I thought you just enjoyed arguing with me about it. You didn't explain that to me when—"

"You never gave me a chance to explain," Gaara interjected. "I've always thought Sasuke's work was interesting. It should go to people who truly admire it, but Sasuke is… well… Sasuke. You can't butt heads with him. He'll always win."

"So you don't think that this piece is any more extraordinary than the rest?" Naruto questioned.

"No," Kiba answered for Gaara at once.

"Yes," Gaara disagreed, much to Kiba's surprise, "I do."

"What?" Kiba exclaimed again, repeating himself exactly. "You do?"

"I do," Gaara confirmed with a chuckle. "I'm more curious as to why  _you_  see it as something extraordinary," he directed to Naruto.

Kiba's interest in Gaara switched immediately to Naruto, who shrugged again. "It's conflicted. It feels like… like I can understand. It makes me curious. It makes me want to understand Sasuke too," he explained slowly. He still wasn't sure how to casually divulge his deeply-rooted connection to the spirit of the painting. Kiba and Gaara exchanged significant glances and smiled at each other. "What?" Naruto asked, suspicious.

"If you wanna understand Sasuke, you're shit outta luck," Kiba said blatantly. "There's  _way_  too much baggage in—"

"It sounds like you're the perfect person for the painting," Gaara interjected, negligent of Kiba's remark.

Naruto would have ran with the topic of Sasuke's baggage if given the chance.

"Absolutely," Kiba agreed, abandoning the topic of understanding Sasuke too.

Naruto thought this a bit fishy. He didn't know them very well, but he thought that this was the type of thing they wouldn't drop so easily and, yet, they had. Naruto followed in suit and dropped it too, even though he was really curious about Sasuke and his past.

"Yeah, well, I'll never get it now," Naruto stated unhappily.

"I'm sure you can still get the painting," Gaara assured.

Naruto smiled at Gaara, mostly trying to convince himself to be happier, and nodded, even though he didn't really believe Gaara's words.

"And I  _do_  like you," Gaara added with a smile.

Naruto's smile widened and grew more genuine. He nodded again more honestly.

"And, like I said earlier, maybe propose a trade," Gaara suggested. "You are Sasuke's type, after all. Especially with the way you smell. I mean, not that I'm interested," he added hastily, so as not to insinuate anything about his own self. "And, honestly, it's against Sasuke's morals, but someone as appetizing as you might convince Sasuke to mingle-"

"Looks like they're off!" Kiba interjected, pointing at the stage.

Naruto instinctively looked over his shoulder to see what Kiba could be pointing at.

Kiba sensed this going down the wrong path. Now that Sasuke had departed, and since he had been pretty plainly revealed as the obvious point which everything involving Naruto revolved around, Kiba wasn't sure that things would go as smoothly as he had blindly believed they would when he had initially invited Naruto out. Without the point of Naruto's presence around to fill the space and make the flow of things seem natural, Kiba found that he really had no idea how to navigate acclimating Naruto to this new group of people. He was certain, though, that Gaara's rambling was likely to end in the redhead saying something mortifying out of ignorance. Truly, Kiba was the only one who understood how delicate this situation needed to be handled, and he was currently cursing himself for not thinking about it before bringing his new friend out so rashly. There were just some things that were better off to be thoroughly explained before one was put in a potentially very awkward situation such as Naruto was bound to encounter tonight. Kiba also didn't know how he would have approached the subject to begin with, which was why he just went along with the thoughtless invitation in the first place. So maybe he shouldn't have even invited Naruto. If he couldn't warn the blond about potential happenings before they happened, then it certainly wasn't right for him to usher Naruto in to experience them at all.

But it was too late for that. Naruto was here, Sasuke was gone, and Kiba was responsible for Naruto fully. He did not have the time or privacy to explain himself to Gaara. He could only hope that his partner would read him as well as he always did and just go with Kiba's flow. When the redhead shot his boyfriend a partially confused and partially annoyed glare, all Kiba could do was shake his head as if to silently say 'just let it go'. Thankfully, Gaara did without question. He did not understand the context, but he understood that Kiba felt as though he was in a pickle and he simply needed to be supported in his decisions right now.

"You know the band?" Naruto asked as he looked back at the pair, slightly impressed. People who knew bands were always cool.

"Yeah," Kiba affirmed. "They're friends of ours."

"Hardly," Gaara added bitterly.

Naruto knit his brows in confusion. "You don't like them?" he asked Gaara.

Gaara scoffed.

"He likes them," Kiba answered, more as a warning to Gaara than as a response to Naruto.

Gaara snorted with humorless laughter. "I don't hate em all, just one."

Kiba couldn't fight the smile as he reminisced on the humor of their previous conversation, but his voice was serious. "Can it, Gaara," he warned. "You'll be nice."

Gaara rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'll play nice but if that asshole presses me I'll slug him right in the face," Gaara said hotly.

"He's always perfectly polite to you," Kiba argued.

"Yeah, perfectly polite and smug as fuck," Gaara spat.

Kiba took in a gasp as if he couldn't believe his ears. "He is not," Kiba retorted. "You're delusional. Why're you so against him, anyway?"

"Why're you so  _for_  him?" Gaara argued, sitting up in his chair and raising a daring brow.

"Cause I just am," Kiba answered immediately.

"Well, then, I  _just am_  too," Gaara argued.

Kiba gave a great huff of disapproval.

"Who're you talking about?" Naruto asked tentatively, feeling like he was intruding on their argument. They seemed to do that a lot, but it was almost endearing to Naruto. They bickered, but it made Naruto smile. It seemed so natural for them and you could tell that they were never truly put out by each other. In fact, it seemed a lot like they couldn't get enough of each other.

"No one," Kiba said cheerily.

"Sai," Gaara said at the exact same time as Kiba with a growl. Kiba gave him a reproachful stare. "What?" Gaara said innocently. "He's not allowed to know Sai? Are you secretly fixing him up with Sasuke, even though you said you weren't? So you're admitting you don't like Sai?"

"What? No! I just… I dunno!" Kiba exclaimed with a huff, defeated.

"What does… uh… Sai have to do with Sasuke?" Naruto asked with interest. Perhaps, a bit more interest than he was willing to let on.

"They're dating," Kiba said happily.

"No, they're not," Gaara disagreed. "They're fucking. There's a difference. Sai doesn't date."

Kiba huffed again. "Maybe he's changed for Sasuke. I sure think he has," Kiba argued.

"Of course, that's because of your gentle, naïve soul, Kiba," Gaara informed.

"What?!" Kiba exclaimed. "Oh… You're just… Urgh…" Kiba ended the sentence with yet another huff of frustration. Kiba turned back to Naruto. " _I_ think they're dating," he said. "You can think whatever you'd like."

Naruto nodded slowly. "So… you think your friend is dating someone but you still send fans of his paintings to him as hookups?"

Gaara and Kiba seemed to, finally, come to an agreement and laugh at Naruto's question. "No," Kiba said, "I just send girls. They're not Sasuke's type," he explained. "It's just funny to watch. I wouldn't undermine a... friend like that for real." By now, Naruto had accepted that awkward pause that seemed to always come before the word 'friend' with Kiba as natural.

"Although," Gaara began, breaking the momentary placation between the two, "I wish you  _would_  undermine Sai."

Kiba glared at him but didn't argue. "Anyway," Kiba said, turning back to Naruto, "you'll meet em all now."

Naruto looked over his shoulder and saw the band members hopping off stage and making their way toward the bar. The one leading the group through the crowd was the lead singer and there was a giant smile plastered across his face as he stared dead ahead at the bartender, Itachi, and moved hastily toward him. He looked like a hungry animal and Naruto found himself worried for the safety of Itachi. Itachi, however, to Naruto's surprise, pushed the drink he was making aside and stood on something behind the bar to lean over it, just as he had done to meet Naruto, with a hungry smile of his own drawn across his face. When he broke through the crowd, the singer rushed to the bar and met Itachi's lips fiercely. Naruto was momentarily shocked. He had seen guys kissing before—hell, he'd kissed guys before, drunk and out of his mind but a kiss nonetheless—but he just hadn't expected the bartender and his entertainment to kiss so plainly across the bar. The crowd in the bar cheered as they did too.

When they broke apart, Itachi said, loud enough for Naruto to hear, "We've got a new one, Dei. Greet him."

Naruto blushed as he realized that he was the new guy and their eyes flitted over to him. The singer nodded his affirmation and then he and Itachi winked at each other. Beckoning his band mates to follow, the singer rounded the corner of the bar and sat in the empty chair that was Sasuke's. He was tall with long, blond hair that fell midway down his back. It was tied up in a sloppy ponytail on top of his head with some fabric and there were chunks of hair that hung loosely out. He smiled wickedly at Naruto as his band mates stood behind him. He held out a hand for Naruto to shake.

"I'm Deidara," he said, "but you can call me Dei. Everyone else does." Naruto shook his hand politely.

"I'm Naruto," Naruto said, trying not to sound intimidated or nervous. He was a very social guy, but he had felt oddly resigned with meeting new people tonight, apparently.

"This is Kisame," Deidara said, pointing to his right at the tallest of the bunch who had short, black hair and fish gills tattooed on his neck. His pupils were animal-like slits and Naruto couldn't stop staring at them, causing him to miss the man's hand as it sat in front of him waiting to be shaken.

"They're contacts," Kisame informed with a grin. Naruto laughed nervously, a bit embarrassed by his display and shook Kisame's hand quickly. "I play drums," Kisame added as an afterthought.

"This," Deidara began again, jabbing a thumb behind him to a girl with long, wavy, dirty blond hair that she wore up in bushy pigtails, "is Temari."

Temari smiled warmly at Naruto but did not offer her hand for shaking. "Hello," she practically sang while nodding at him. Naruto nodded back at her with a smile of his own. "I'm Gaara's sister. I'm on guitar," she said happily.

"This fuck," Deidara began once again, waving a dismissive hand somewhere to the left and behind him to indicate a guy with black hair that fell past his ears and sat perfectly tussled on his forehead, "is Sai." Deidara's words weren't kind, but his energy was still beaming. Naruto decided that it was just friendly jeering.

"Hi," said Sai in a voice that was as smooth as molasses. He was smiling at Naruto, his eyes shimmering, as he leaned dramatically between Deidara and Gaara, causing Gaara to scoff angrily and roll his eyes, and extended his hand for Naruto to shake. "I play bass," he said. "I've gotta, y'know, keep the rhythm," he practically purred.

Naruto shook his hand politely and as he let go, Sai slid his hand seductively up Naruto's arm and back down across his hand again before leaning away. Naruto stared at Sai incredulously as the invisible line Sai had just traced on his arm tingled. Sai was, clearly,  _very_  flirty. Naruto swallowed hard and shrugged it off, trying desperately not to look at Sai, though Sai's eyes were burning into his face. He felt himself blush unintentionally and Sai giggled. Then, Naruto heard an even louder and angrier grunt escape Gaara and everyone at the table seemed to tense up.

"We're off," Temari stated immediately, seizing Kisame by the arm.

Deidara smiled back at her, though his energy seemed completely different now. "Take this fuck too, won't you?"

"Nope," she sang and hugged Kisame's arm tightly. "I won't." With a wave, she was dragging Kisame off toward the dance floor, who seemed to be protesting. There was a DJ set up on stage already and he was playing music which she was, obviously, keen to dance to.

"Well—" Deidara began, regarding Naruto again. There was a devilish gleam in his eye and he smiled wickedly at Naruto.

"No!" Kiba cut in sternly. Naruto was so lost in Deidara's gaze that he had momentarily forgotten that anyone else was even there.

"C'mon, Kiba," Gaara protested. "It'll be fun!"

"Or not!" Kiba insisted, trying to covertly send Gaara very significant gaze.

Naruto was curious, but he was also afraid to ask what they were talking about.

"Sai'll do it," Gaara stated, a hopeful glint in his eye.

"Yes, I will," Sai agreed quickly, his eyes still glued to Naruto's face.

"No, he won't," Kiba argued. "Sai, get that look off of your face," Kiba demanded. Gaara huffed with dismay.

"I'll do it," Deidara stated to stop the arguing. "Itachi's cool."

"No," Kiba said. "No one will do it!"

"Oh, why not?!" Deidara exclaimed, turning round to look at Kiba. "It's not like he's not expecting it."

"I don't even know if he's..." Kiba cleared his throat and threw Deidara a significant glance too. "— _gay._ "

"Well then why's here with this lot?!" Deidara exclaimed. Naruto felt more confused and concerned than before as Kiba looked like a child who had done wrong.

"I met him in the gallery today and I just invited him!" Kiba exclaimed in defense. "He was into one of Sasuke's paintings. It's not exactly the perfect atmosphere to just ask someone if they're... gay... or not!"

"You invited a potentially  _straight_  guy to a predominantly  _gay_  bar?" Deidara asked incredulously. He stressed the words so strongly that Naruto was starting to believe they were code words. "The fuck?"

"I… well… I…" Kiba tried to argue but settled on a defeated huff.

"I'm not straight," Naruto confirmed meekly, unsure whether that was a good thing or not. He wasn't even sure if they were actually talking about his sexuality anymore. Deidara took this as Naruto's understanding of their conversation and as an offer of his approval. In truth, Naruto had no clue what he was inadvertently agreeing to.

"Perfect!" Deidara exclaimed, still looking at Kiba and now sporting a satisfied smile. "It's tradition, Kiba."

"It's still… not… no!" Kiba demanded. "I don't think he knows what he's agreeing to."

"Oh, but it must be done," Deidara said, shrugging. "Don't worry. I'll usher him into our crown gently," he assured and he turned back to Naruto.

Out of his peripheries, Naruto noticed Kiba leaning in and whispering something in Gaara's ear, but he was too mesmerized by Deidara's stare to really turn his attention that way. What Deidara's plans were, Naruto didn't know. But the look in his eyes matched the look he had donned while making his way to Itachi, and Naruto was sure that he was either going to kiss him or kill him. Before he had a chance to do anything, though, Sai was upon Naruto and, to Naruto's great surprise, it was Sai's  _lips_  that were attacking him.

Naruto sat in utter shock for a long moment, in which he looked at everyone at the table. Kiba was plainly furious and Gaara was satisfied, but it wasn't a good satisfaction. It was the kind of satisfaction that you feel when you've caught your best friend's boyfriend cheating and you're happy cause you've always known he's a cheater but you're also mad because he's cheating on your best friend. Deidara was stuck between the same satisfaction of Gaara, the fury of Kiba, and utter amusement.

Sai made a strong hissing sound and detached from Naruto's lips. He pulled Naruto's head back firmly by gripping his hair and Naruto could no longer see what he was doing. Naruto was, finally, able to relocate his arms, due to panic, and he pushed Sai off of him roughly. He was mostly offended by the kiss but partly terrified by the noise Sai had just made and the fact that he could no longer see what Sai was doing. He couldn't be sure, but he was positive that he didn't want it to happen.

"What the fuck?!" Naruto exclaimed hotly, but his tone didn't match his expression. He was looking shocked but sounding angry.

Sai simply smiled at him, his upper lip twitching.

"Seriously!" Kiba added furiously. "You're taken, you bastard!"

"I hardly think my relationship status is the issue here. I don't think he knows about our tradition," Sai said plainly. "And, no, I'm technically not taken. Sasuke and I are flexible," he added, not even looking at Kiba. "Nobody said I was his boyfriend." With those last words, Sai winked at Naruto and Naruto looked away, blushing ridiculously.

"What've I been telling you?" Gaara snarled.

"Shut it, Gaara!" Kiba snapped. He was clearly in no mood for huffing or puffing or Gaara's gloating and Gaara did as he was told. "There's a bigger issue at hand."

"What's your problem, Sai?" Deidara piped in, looking quite anxious. "You  _are_  taken, and by someone who's practically my little brother too." Deidara chose to pass up the real issue in place of this one, giving everyone time to assess what to do next. Naruto was blatantly ignorant of what was really going on.

Sai shrugged innocently. "He's cute. If anyone was going to… kiss him... I wanted it to be me," he said flatly.

"You shouldn't've," Deidara said coolly.

"You were gonna do it," Sai argued calmly, turning to look at Deidara. "But, assuming we're still worried about Sasuke, what difference does it make? You're dating Ita and you were still gonna… make out with him."

"Yes," Deidara hissed, "except Itachi and I have talked about it. Like I said, it's tradition and Ita likes a good laugh at the reactions as much as I do, but I don't do it just because they're cute. You  _are_  cute," Deidara added to Naruto as if trying not to offend him. Then, he rounded back on Sai. "I'm faithful to my boyfriend, Sai. This is all for shits and giggles. I do it for the sake of the tradition."

"Or is it for the—" Sai began darkly.

"It's not because he's a cheater, like you," Gaara interrupted loudly.

"No one was asking  _you_ , Gaara," Sai said almost sweetly. "Plus, I'm  _not_  a cheater. Like I said, nobody said I was Sasuke's boyfriend. If he thinks that, then oh well."

Gaara leered at Sai. "Can I punch him  _now_?" Gaara asked through clenched teeth.

"Please, do!" Kiba exclaimed loudly and Gaara was jumping from his seat instantly.

"Do not!" Deidara snapped, grabbing Gaara's shoulder and pushing him back into his chair. "Ita wouldn't be happy about it." Once certain that Gaara was composed, Deidara heaved a heavy sigh. "What about Sasuke?" Deidara asked Sai, turning back to regard him. The tension in the air was thick. Naruto could tell that Sai's next answer would decide his fate.

"What of him?" Sai asked plainly. "He'll never know that I've kissed this guy. He's still mine to toy with, so don't worry. I'll be fine," Sai said irritatingly, as if anyone was worried about  _him_. Gaara grumbled quiet threats. Deidara's blood was beginning to boil too.

"We'll tell him," Kiba promised.

"He's not your toy," Deidara added coldly.

"Oh," Sai began, leaning so close to Deidara's face that Naruto was afraid he might kiss him too, "but he really is, Dei. Trust me, he's wrapped around my finger. Your words'll be useless against me. He won't leave me. Not to mention, he'd've done it himself." A sickening satisfaction crossed his eyes as everyone at the table, aside from Naruto, stared at him for a long moment, measuring his words.

"You can't tie Sasuke down so easily," Deidara assured, but the look in his eyes wasn't so convincing. He only partly believed his words.

"Is that so?" Sai asked with amusement. He leaned away from Deidara. "We'll see, won't we? You may think otherwise, but he's running with me every night, isn't he?" Kiba looked aghast and both Gaara and Deidara tensed up visibly. This seemed to amuse Sai to no end.

"No way," Gaara denied weakly.

"Oh, yes. But shh," Sai said, setting his finger against his lips and shushing softly. "Don't tell Ita."

Through this heated conversation, a look of confidence and satisfaction never left Sai's face, and it was infuriating. He, then, turned to Naruto and trailed his hand all the way up Naruto's arm and toward his neck. Before he could make it there, though, Naruto threw his hand away. Sai paused, giggled, and then sauntered away totally unperturbed. Gaara, Kiba, and Deidara all watched him retreat with deadly glares. Naruto turned to watch him go too and saw Itachi vaulting straight over the bar. In a flash, Sai was sprawled out on the ground with Itachi towering over him.

"You don't fuck with my brother," he said gruffly. "Get off my floor and get outta my bar."

Sai stood from the ground slowly, cupping his bleeding nose in his hand as if it wasn't really urgent business. He had, somehow, managed to retain that smug, unfazed attitude through getting punched in the face. Most of the bar remained unconcerned with the activity and buzzed on.

"Actually, I do, Ita," Sai said daringly. "I fuck with him every night."

Itachi tensed up at the words and Naruto thought he would punch Sai again, but he didn't.

Sai went on menacingly as he began to walk away, "Don't get so riled up, Ita." He, then, placed an annoyingly fake hand of sympathy on Itachi's shoulder, pausing in passing. "It's a waste of energy. Sasuke likes it better when you stay out of his business. You're better at that anyway."

Deidara stood quickly and rushed at Sai with his fist cocked, apparently pushed past his limit. Itachi caught his fist, though, and yelled so loudly that everyone in the bar stopped and looked to see what was going on.

"GET OUT!"

Sai's smiled only widened and he seemed to grow even more satisfied too. Surprisingly, he opened his mouth as if to taunt Ita even further but Deidara placed his foot on Sai's ass and pushed hard, seeing as Itachi still had a hold of his fist.

"Fuck off, Sai!" Deidara shouted angrily as Sai was jolted forward, his expression still failing to falter.

Itachi was trembling with anger but was, clearly, fighting the urge to hit Sai again. Sai turned and looked Deidara in the eyes, opening his mouth to tease him too before a loud voice boomed through the bar and caused him to snap it shut.

"Enough!" the voice demanded. Sai froze and his eyes widened momentarily. Finally, he was fazed. "Let's go, Sai." a man commanded loudly as he forced his way to the front of the crowd. He was tall with long, black hair and eyes that seemed to pierce the back of Sai's head. Sai reacted immediately, turning to face the man.

"I—"

"I said, go!" the man roared and Sai promptly walked toward the exit.

"I hope you'll forgive his insolence," the man said gruffly, obviously out of etiquette rather than sincerity.

Itachi nodded, sporting the same forced etiquette. "I suppose I can manage that. Train him better, won't you?"

The man's eyes slit into a glare, but his lips turned up into a smile. It was the same creepy, infuriatingly smug smile of Sai's, but it was being used differently. "Of course," he said quietly and turned to follow Sai out of the bar. The crowd buzzed on immediately, like it hadn't even missed a beat.

"I hate that bastard," Deidara said scathingly.

Itachi released Deidara's fist. "Who doesn't?" he added.

"I always knew Sai was worthless," Gaara stated angrily. "I mean, look where he comes from."

"Oh, rub it in then!" Kiba exclaimed.

"I wasn't," Gaara defended. "I was just pointing it out." Kiba made to argue but huffed instead.

"Well, fuck him," Deidara said cheerily, then looked at Naruto. "Not literally, of course."

Naruto knew that this was meant as a joke, but he couldn't laugh at it like the others did. They were surprisingly quick to recover from the tense exchange. Naruto felt wrong though. He felt violated, that was for sure, but he also felt guilty. Sasuke didn't seem like the kind of guy to be wrapped around  _anyone's_  finger... but if Sai was telling the truth, then Sasuke would be really hurt by this news. Naruto couldn't help but feel responsible.

"If he loathed me before, he'll downright hate me now," Naruto groaned.

"He will not," Kiba tried to disagree but his face was, clearly, saying the opposite.

"You'll fare fine," Itachi comforted, patting Naruto on the shoulder. Then, he hopped back over the bar and returned to work.

"Sasuke doesn't even like Sai," Gaara tried to assure, but his face was shouting the opposite too.

Deidara was the only one who spoke the truth. "Sasuke doesn't like anyone  _but_  Sai, actually."

"Dei!" both Gaara and Kiba exclaimed.

"What?" Deidara said innocently. "It's true. He likes Sai a lot, oddly enough. Anyone could see it."

"Can't you see we're trying to  _console_  him here?" Kiba reprimanded.

"Ah, whatever," Deidara shrugged. "The truth is the truth. If you wanna get with him, you should know," he said plainly to Naruto.

"What? I… I don't…" Naruto tried to defend, but he sounded rather unconvincing.

' _Do I?_ ' he asked himself. ' _I don't even know the guy!_ '

"You don't like him?" Deidara asked with a raised brow. "It seems as plain as him liking Sai to me."

"All I know about him is that he's talented, temperamental, and mysterious," Naruto pointed out.

"But  _Sasuke_  likes  _him_ ," Kiba chimed in with a smile.

"Liked," Gaara corrected, "past tense. That was before you made Sasuke loathe him and before Sai made Sasuke detest him."

"Does  _nobody_  understand the pretense of consolation?" Kiba exclaimed, rounding on Gaara in exasperation.

"I don't wanna be consoled," Naruto proclaimed. "I wanna be exorcised of the demon from that kiss." With that, Naruto shook his body comically and everyone laughed. "Seriously, though," Naruto continued, "I need a miracle. He already hates me and he doesn't even know me. How will I be your friend now?"

"You wanna be our friend?" Kiba exclaimed excitedly.

"We're touched," Gaara added, chuckling at Kiba's response. "At least he is." Kiba paid Gaara no mind.

"Seriously," said Naruto. "What the fuck do I do now?"

"Well," Deidara said, resting his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Hope he doesn't find out. That's a fluke, though, cause we're gonna tell him. So, hope he'll forgive you. But that's a fluke too. Sasuke doesn't forgive easily. You could always try to woo him. That's your best shot, I bet. You do smell wonderful."

"You want him to pretend to be smitten with Sasuke just to avoid his wrath?" Kiba exclaimed in disgust. "That's terrible!"

"It's not pretending," Deidara argued. "He really thinks Sasuke's hot shit!"

"That's not liking someone! That's just stupid, Dei," Kiba retorted. "No one is playing with Sasuke's feelings. Got that?" Kiba snapped at Naruto.

"I never said I would!" Naruto defended. "So… then… what  _do_  I do?"

All three men exchanged looks for a long moment, looked back at Naruto, and then they each shrugged. Naruto sighed. He had made an enemy of someone he desperately wanted to befriend if not to know Sasuke, then at least to obtain his painting.

"Great," Naruto grumbled. "Now, I'll never get that painting. I'll never know what it means. Or Sasuke." He slumped down in his chair.

"See!" Deidara beamed. "Smitten!"

"That's not what I meant!" Naruto added quickly. "I meant that... if I ever did want to unravel the mystery that is Sasuke, then I couldn't. But I don't want to. It's just, if I did want to, then I want to! If I want to, I mean..."

Even Naruto ended up confused by his own defensive explanation. Did he actually have a crush on Sasuke? Pfft, no! Of course not! Sasuke was absolutely unpleasant and enjoyed mixing with guys like Sai. Why would Naruto like him? Not to mention, Naruto didn't even know him. You can't like someone you don't know, right? No! No, definitely not. Naruto didn't like him, right? No… right?

"He likes him," Deidara whispered to Gaara and Kiba and Naruto groaned loudly in response. Deidara looked at him. "Well, you do. You'll see it soon enough too. In the meantime, I need a shot!" With that, Deidara was rounding the bar corner and rushing to the middle of the bar to order from Itachi.

"Can you," Naruto began uncertainly, "uh… I just mean… I'm… I'm curious about Sasuke and his… past… y'know… like his family and stuff?"

Naruto was afraid they'd start teasing him again, but both men were surprisingly serious. Gaara looked to Kiba, and Kiba look back at Gaara. Kiba shrugged a tiny shrug, so Gaara turned back to Naruto.

"Sasuke's family is loaded," Gaara began to explain. "As for Sasuke," Gaara carefully scrutinized his every word. "-their dad is real hard on him. He hates that Sasuke is into art. Can't get over the fact that he's paying for art school and not business or law or something. He originally wanted Itachi to take over the family business, but Itachi made a huge deal about it and their dad was too afraid to ask Sasuke for fear of how Itachi would react to that too. So he just made alternate plans for the business, but he's still all over Sasuke about his future. It drives Sasuke mad. He hates it, but he can't say anything because he needs his dad's support." Gaara glanced sideways at Kiba for the shortest of moments. "He just agrees to try out a few classes to appease his dad. He's a real nice guy if you look past his hard exterior. He just wants Sasuke to be happy. He also just thinks that happiness comes with money. He has this idea that Sasuke will be a starving artist, really."

"He won't," Naruto said quickly. "His work is amazing!"

"Exactly!" Kiba agreed. "Fugaku doesn't much get art though. It's all just finger painting to him. If he can't see money, he sees failure. If Sasuke argues too much, he'll be cut off." There was a sad expression in Kiba's eyes. In fact, it was almost longing. Naruto had no time to question it though, for Gaara picked up immediately.

"Fugaku knows that cutting Sasuke off would raise hell with Ita, but you can never have true control over an Uchiha," Gaara explained. "Like father, like sons. I think Fugaku tries to trade controlling Sasuke with placating Itachi. After all, why else would he pay the rent here other than as a peace offering?"

"A peace offering for what?" Naruto asked curiously. Gaara and Kiba exchanged glances.

"You'd do better to hear that from an Uchiha, I think," Gaara decided. "Anyway, I've been friends with Sasuke since preschool, so I've seen this all go down. Ita'll do anything for Sasuke, but they're in a bit of an… uh… fight or something like that." Naruto thought about questioning this, but he figured that was a question better left for an Uchiha too. Gaara continued, "Their mother is real sweet and all, but Tsume worries—"

"Gaara," Kiba interrupted, clearing his throat awkwardly.

"Right. Well, in any case, it's complicated." Gaara glanced at Kiba warily. "Sasuke's family is complicated. You'd really have to get to know him if you're curious. I think you'd be good for him anyway. He and I come from similar pasts and look how good Kiba is for me," Gaara said with a smile, turning adoring eyes to his partner.

"Stop it," Kiba said meekly.

"I mean it," Gaara insisted. "Without this guy, I dunno where I'd be," Gaara admitted. He looked back to Naruto. "I dunno where Sasuke'd be either. It'd be good for him to have his own Kiba. Or, rather, to have his own you, since he's lost—" Gaara cut off mid-sentence when Kiba jabbed him in the side but recovered quickly enough so that Naruto was none the wiser. "—his motivation. Y'know, strict family can be hard on you."

Naruto smiled, feeling proud of the compliment he had received. He thought over the things he had just learned briefly and decided immediately to take back up his mission to befriend Sasuke, not for the painting but for Sasuke's sake. Gaara was just saying that Sasuke needed someone like Naruto and Naruto was genuinely interested in him. He wanted to know more. He wanted to help Sasuke with whatever his problems were. His smile widened.

"I think I need a shot too," he stated happily, making to go after Deidara. Kiba and Gaara snorted with laughter that put him back down in his seat.

"I think you'll be lucky to get one then," Gaara said, smirking.

"Ita only gives us beer. No hard liquor," Kiba added.

"Of course," Naruto said, laughing at his ignorance. "Then I think I'll have another beer!"

Gaara nodded his agreement and Kiba jumped at the chance to be helpful and pour them all another beer. Naruto smiled as Kiba filled their mugs and Gaara eyed Kiba reverently, thinking that he had been damn lucky to make such great friends so easily. He could really learn to love this place as long as he was friends with this lot. As he picked up his beer and clanked his mug loudly against Kiba and Gaara's glasses, a deep grin settled into his features. This was something he could get used to. This was damn good company and it was damn good beer too.

_To be continued..._


	4. Nightwalker

"Hey, Kiba. I see you're still willing to talk to me, even though Sasuke despises me more than ever," Naruto said half playfully and half grudgingly into the phone as he rummaged around his mess of a bedroom for a clean pair of jeans.

He had truly wished to befriend Sasuke, despite the man's lack of appeal. It was strange though, because Naruto felt like he could sense a deeper meaning to Sasuke's every move. Almost as if he were mere inches away from breaking through a fragile wall, and yet he could be totally wrong. There could be layer upon layer of impenetrable stone between them. Still, Naruto felt very drawn to Sasuke.

It had been two wonderful weeks since Naruto had first met Kiba and they'd hung out quite a few times since then. Naruto got along really well with Kiba and Gaara. The atmosphere was natural between them. Well, Gaara was a bit of a stretch sometimes, to be honest, but even that felt natural. It just felt like the three of them could be their whole selves in each other's company, no matter how unappealing those selves could sometimes be.

Sasuke, on the other hand, felt no comfort in Naruto's company whatsoever. He'd, apparently, forgiven Kiba, but he still wanted very little to do with Naruto. He'd tolerated Naruto's presence in his space for the first couple of days, but then he found out that Sai had kissed Naruto. From then on, he'd absolutely refused to be in Naruto's presence at all.

"Yeah, well, the drama queen still despises me too," Kiba pointed out. "I'm in no less danger today than I was yesterday."

"I thought Sasuke forgave you for the whole painting thing?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah," Kiba sighed. "Well, he's mad about other things. That's Sasuke. Always seems to have something to be mad about."

Naruto snorted. "And you tried to tell me he could be fun the first day we met. I'm afraid I have to call shenanigans on that, Kiba," he said in good humor, though there was an undeniable air of truth about the statement.

Kiba laughed lightly, but it was clear to Naruto that his friend hadn't been amused by the statement.

"I'm only joking," Naruto assured.

"No, no. I know," Kiba replied, jolting out of his own thoughts. "It's true, Sasuke isn't taking any steps to prove me right. But you know, it's just... it's just so complicated with him." There was a slight pause before Kiba added, "I wish I could explain."

Naruto and Kiba had formed a pretty good friendship so far, and Naruto felt comfortable enough to be nosy. But he chose not to, mostly because he knew it would get him nowhere. Kiba was pretty wary of what he did and did not let slip, and when it came to Sasuke he was pretty much airtight.

"Well, what's up?" Naruto asked. "To what do I owe this call?"

"Right," Kiba said, perking up. "I was hoping you would come to our place tonight."

"Sure. Beats the alternative," Naruto consented. Although, he had been rather excited to execute his plans for the night, but he figured he could do it any night really.

"And what was that?" asked Kiba.

"I was just gonna go down to Akatsake and see if I couldn't get a word with Itachi," Naruto answered casually, but he was thrown off by the heavy silence that followed his words. After a long moment, Naruto stopped searching for pants and thought that, perhaps, Kiba had hung up. He was just about to speak when Kiba finally spoke.

"Naruto, you can't do that," he said softly, yet so firmly. "Don't go to Akatsake alone. Itachi is alright, but he's just one guy. Even if it is his bar, you're outnumbered and you'll just..." Kiba trailed off, thinking better of what he was saying, and sighed. Another deep silence fell between the two.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto finally prompted. "What could possibly happen to me? I thought everyone at Akatsake was pretty cool."

He wasn't at all taken aback by Kiba's abrupt change in attitude. For the past couple of weeks, Kiba would be telling Naruto to not walk down a certain street or to stay away from a certain group. He had been suddenly very keen to warn Naruto about a lot of things, especially about wandering around in the dark alone. Naruto, therefore, wasn't surprised at all that Kiba's ominous warnings extended even to Itachi's bar. Though not shocked, Naruto was still curious and inclined to question. Kiba never really had given much of an answer for his constant worrying, and Naruto had never really demanded one.

"Just trust me," Kiba said slowly, as if weighing every syllable. "It's fine if you wanna go, but not without me or Gaara, or preferably both of us."

"But why?" Naruto persisted, feeling like a teenager being set a ludicrous curfew.

He had meekly questioned Kiba's strange warnings and instructions on how to travel the city over the past two weeks, but Kiba was steadfastly vague in his replies, if not downright dismissive. Like he'd said, though, Naruto had never been demanding. He'd just sort of let it go without too much thought, but now he wanted to know.

Of course, Kiba still didn't answer. Instead, he meekly asked, "Are you angry with me?"

"No," Naruto sighed, resigning to defeat. "You've just been so weird about this kind of stuff and you won't tell me why. This place doesn't have any more rapists and killers than any other city. I've checked," said Naruto. Then, thinking better of his lie, he admitted, "Well, I haven't really checked. Is that what the issue is though? Are there a lot of rapists and killers out there?"

"You could say that," Kiba agreed pensively. "I'm sorry if I'm treating you like a kid all the time. I just worry about your safety. That's just how I am."

"Eh, yeah, I understand," Naruto grumbled. Kiba did have that kind of warm, caring soul. "It's just agitating, you know. It's like your protecting this secret from me, and I don't like it." He paused, allowing his ensuing thoughts to pierce him right through the chest. When his lips parted again, the tone of his voice was more pained than intended. "I don't like it at all."

Kiba could sense the misery in Naruto's voice, and he didn't like thinking that he'd caused it. He knew it to likely be a combination of many things, but Kiba's behavior was the catalyst. He wanted more than ever to be forthright with Naruto.

"Look," Kiba began softly, knowing this sign of solidarity was important to Naruto in the moment, "the crowd at Akatsake clings to a tradition that's really hard for me to explain. I just don't want you to fall prey to it without someone there to watch your back. They're not used to someone coming in and  _not_  taking part. I probably should have thought that over before ever inviting you there," Kiba admitted.

He took in a breath that sounded like the beginning of a continuance, but Naruto could hear the familiar voice of Gaara interrupting. And it sounded like Gaara was scolding Kiba too. Kiba huffed and Naruto smiled. That sounded a lot more like Kiba's personality than this constant, worrisome nagging about safety and shit. Naruto ignored Gaara's unwanted interjections and pressed on with the subject of Akatsake. Now that Kiba had elaborated on the topic on his own, Naruto was  _really_  interested.

"But I thought I'd already fallen prey to Akatsake's tradition?" Naruto asked curiously as he remembered the kiss Sai had planted on him without his permission. The way that they all talked about it then, the tradition was kissing the newcomers and watching them squirm. Naruto thought it an odd tradition, but it was a gay bar.

Kiba seemed to struggle in the silence before answering. "Well, there are a couple of different traditions there," Kiba said nervously. Naruto faintly heard Gaara hissing in the background and wrinkled his nose up in disappointment. "Just promise you'll come tonight," Kiba said. "I'll explain myself more when you get here."

Naruto had grown to consider Gaara as Kiba's keeper. As Naruto and Kiba's friendship grew, lines of communication opened up between them and they found themselves sharing personal things without so much as a hint at hesitation. It was just so easy for them to talk to each other, and it was clear to Naruto that Kiba wanted to be more open about certain things. But he couldn't, not with Gaara's eyes always flashing warnings. And it was so confusing to Naruto, because the first day they'd met Naruto distinctly remembered them as more of an equal pair. There were times not only when Gaara would have to keep Kiba's tongue in line, but for the reverse had happened too. Now, however, the atmosphere had shifted completely. It was as if Kiba was always on the verge of saying the wrong thing, and Gaara was ever-vigilant of that fact.

Naruto had pressed lightly on what exactly it was that Kiba was so worried that would happen to Naruto. At first, Kiba was a sealed door. He'd spit out warnings and then ignore every single question Naruto would ask. He'd answer only with, 'promise you'll do it' or 'promise you'll stay away'. It was always 'promise this' and 'promise that'. It was never 'this is why' or 'here's an actual answer, Naruto'. As Kiba's tongue got looser, though, Gaara's glares got meaner, it seemed. And Naruto only got more curious.

Why couldn't Naruto walk down certain streets at night? Why couldn't Naruto go to Akatsake alone? Why couldn't Naruto even go to campus alone? Kiba and Gaara made every trip to the university with him as they prepared to start the school year. Why couldn't Naruto ever go to Kiba's  _or_  Gaara's places? This question brought Naruto back to the present. Kiba had just invited him over! For once, Naruto was allowed at his place! And as a bonus, Kiba was promising more answers.

"Naruto!" Kiba's voice cut in impatiently. "Promise me."

There were those words again: 'promise me'. Naruto sneered quietly. It was beginning to sound like another invitation into another secret that Kiba wouldn't talk about, or else Gaara would shut him up too quickly for Naruto to get any useful information. Gaara and Kiba seemed to be extremely secretive. Yet, Naruto had grown to trust them implicitly. That trust was wavering though. Naruto wasn't necessarily beginning to distrust them. It was more like they weren't trusting him, and he was beginning to get tired of these head games. He thought that the relationship he was building with Kiba was worth so much more than what it was currently being treated as.

"Well, yeah. I'll be there," Naruto agreed.

He felt still more curious about Akatsake as he agreed and a part of him wanted to be reckless and go, but the smarter part of him said to listen to Kiba. If the whole problem was just that this city  _was_  full of more rapists and murderers than any other place, Kiba would know that better than Naruto, wouldn't he? Annoying as Kiba's urge to protect could be, Naruto shouldn't be so stupid as to ignore it completely. Plus, he had some thoughts and feelings he wanted to express to Kiba and Gaara both, so maybe it was a good thing that they meet up.

"You said  _our_  place," Naruto pointed out. "You have a roommate?"

"Gaara," Kiba said brightly. "We live together."

"Oh, I should have guessed," Naruto chuckled, his good mood returning to him. That was, of course, until he heard Gaara talking feverishly in the background again in the very way that Naruto hated him doing. Why was he always in Naruto's conversations with Kiba? He was so controlling.

"We'll send the cab for you," Kiba said brightly. "Don't worry. It's on us."

"You really don't—" Naruto began, but Kiba interrupted him cheerily.

"It'll be around at seven. Text me your address. Gaara says hey! Talk to you later!" With that, Kiba hung up.

Naruto removed the phone from his ear and stared at it for a long moment. Kiba wasn't acting any stranger than usual, but Naruto was feeling much more curious and frustrated by it now. Why was Kiba always giving him warnings? Why wouldn't Kiba tell Naruto what Kiba was even warning him about? Why was Gaara so particular about what Kiba could and couldn't say?

Gaara was a very peculiar guy. On one hand, he was quite unpleasant to be around at times. He was a lot like Sasuke in that sense. Sometimes, he was very dark and uninviting. Then again, other time, he would be really cheerful and fun. That was the part of Gaara that Naruto enjoyed, the part that so perfectly fed off of Kiba. It was they could get together and become balls of energy, always countering each other and dulling any rough edges. But when Gaara was in a mood, it was all Kiba could do to keep the atmosphere from becoming so thick that it was suffocating.

In any mood, one thing Gaara always did was monitor Kiba like a hawk. He watched every single thing that Kiba did and said. He never took his eyes off of the boy, and this behavior seemed to intensify the longer that Naruto had grown to know them. At first, Kiba and Gaara seemed to be in easy balance, but then things began to teeter and Naruto was seeing them flop between extremes far more often.

They went everywhere together, moving as if they were one singular unit, and Naruto found this to be strange too. Gaara was oddly overprotective of Kiba. At Akatsake, no one would even dare look at Kiba the wrong way. People would talk to Kiba but it was just until they couldn't stand Gaara's gaze any longer. Even if they seemed to be a perfectly friendly person, Gaara didn't appear to like anyone getting near Kiba. But, again, the especially strange part of it all was that this behavior had arisen between the time of Naruto meeting them and now. The first few days, Gaara was perfectly at ease. Now, however, he anything but. Kiba didn't even seem to notice, or else he just didn't mind.

When they went to places other than Akatsake, Gaara tended to get even stiffer and more uneasy. He'd always be looking around at other people as if they were criminals. Sometimes, he'd pull Kiba really close to him and hold him so tightly that Naruto thought Kiba should be wincing in pain. If Naruto thought about it, Gaara was really protective of him too. Not in the same overbearing and insane way that he was with Kiba, but protective nonetheless. If anyone got too close to Naruto, Gaara would tense up and watch their every move.

Naruto had just been pawning it off as Gaara's personality—he just must be a protective guy—but now Naruto was wondering if it didn't have something to do with this big, secretive thing they refused to tell him about. Naruto decided that it was best to brush it all off though. After all, Kiba and Gaara had lived here much longer than Naruto had. They were probably just trying to keep Naruto out of trouble. Why wouldn't Naruto be thankful for that? He had truly made some great friends here. Plus, he could make a mental list and bring it up at their place tonight.

**~ ( >^.^)> <(^.^<) ~**

The cab driver arrived precisely at seven and Naruto rushed out of his apartment with his shoes in hand. The driver smiled as Naruto got inside, but Naruto could tell that he wasn't actually happy at all. He started driving off before Naruto even closed the door completely. The man would get paid extra the more time he took, so he should be apt to meander. But he seemed awfully keen to be rid of Naruto. Naruto took no offense though. He just put on his shoes and then texted Kiba to let him know that he was on his way. He made sure to mention that he was seated in the nicely paid for cab, assuring that the brunette had no reason to fret because he had followed all directions.

As he stared at the buildings whizzing by, Naruto bobbed his head mindlessly along to the beat of the song playing on the radio, totally ignorant of the driver's constant glances back at him through the rear view mirror. They, eventually, drove into a nicer part of the city where all the buildings were sleek and modern. Naturally, Naruto thought they were only passing through, but the driver slowed down to a stop in front of tall, iron gates. If they were going through gates, then they probably weren't just passing through. For some reason, Naruto just hadn't expected to arrive somewhere so... fancy.

The driver cracked his window just enough so that the man in the booth could only see the driver's eyes and said, "602 Smarmy."

The man in the booth surveyed the driver carefully and asked for identification. Naruto didn't pay further attention to the exchange though, so he missed the peculiarity of it all. He was, instead, transfixed on the nice buildings beyond the gate. Eventually, the gate was opening and the cab was driving quickly past the threshold. The cab, finally, came to a stop in front of a tall building several stories high. Naruto stared at it incredulously for a long moment.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" he asked uncertainly, still staring out the window.

"Yeah," the driver said gruffly, as if eager for Naruto to simply get out.

"I don't suppose you can tell me how much it cost, can you?" Naruto asked, turning and smiling at the driver.

The driver grimaced slightly and he stared at Naruto's mouth until Naruto's grin faltered. The driver looked back up at him uncertainly, failing to answer. Naruto decided that the driver hadn't heard him properly, so he opened his mouth to ask his questions again. He wanted to repay Kiba and Gaara for sending him the cab. As he made to speak, he leaned closer to the driver and the man cringed in response, his eyes widening.

Thoroughly taken aback by the action, Naruto stopped his attempt at communication immediately and simply stared at the man warily. As strange as the man seemed to think Naruto was, Naruto found the man's behavior really strange himself. Eager to get away and figuring he was just a crack addict or something, Naruto smiled weakly at the driver and exited the cab quickly. As soon as the door closed, the cab was speeding off and Naruto watched it disappear.

A slight shiver ran down his spine and he noticed that it seemed colder here than it had been at Naruto's place, but Naruto hadn't brought a jacket. Hopefully it didn't get too cold as he headed home tonight. He turned on his heels at looked up at the many stories of the building before him. A man dressed in a red door man's uniform standing at the door beckoned him.

"Come now," the young man said sweetly. "You don't wanna be stuck out here all alone after dark."

Naruto turned his attention to the door man and nodded, though he wasn't sure why he was agreeing. What would be so bad about being outside a lone after dark? Did everyone think this city was wrought with criminals? Because they were acting as such, even within the confines of this gated community. Half way through the entrance, Naruto thought he heard the door man actually sniff him. He glanced behind himself and regarded the smiling man uncertainly, though he looked innocent enough.

"You'd be Naruto, I guess?" the man said softly. His voice did not sound like someone creepy enough to sniff a stranger. Naruto relaxed, nodding his head in affirmation. "It'll be floor twenty then," the man informed. "They're expecting you, so off you go to private elevator one. Strictly for the upper suites. It's off to suite four for you."

Naruto cocked his head curiously at the words. "Private elevator?" he questioned, looking at the four elevators in the lobby in confusion.

"Mhm," the man hummed in confirmation as he gestured to an area at the back of the lobby behind the desk that sat in the middle. "Elevator one takes you to suites one through four," the man informed as he walked to the hidden area behind the desk. Naruto followed reluctantly and the man pointed to the right down a long corridor. "Elevator two," the man began as he pointed to the left down the corridor, "takes you to suites five through eight. Those you should hardly be bothered with though. You are searching for Master Sundama," the man said softly.

"Master Sundama?" Naruto questioned emphatically, unable to fight the urge to snort with laughter. "Who is that?"

"I believe you'll know him as Gaara."

"Oh, okay," Naruto said, nodding and walking over to elevator one.

He kept a careful eye on the man who followed him down the corridor. The moment Naruto pushed the up button, the elevator doors flung open and Naruto was very glad that they had too. He was eager to be away from this guy. He was giving Naruto the creeps.

"Until we meet again," the doorman crooned sweetly, and his eyes seemed to glow as he spoke.

The doors slid shut to hide the creepy smile that slunk across the door man's lips. Once they had closed, Naruto let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding. He absent-mindedly clicked the button for suite four and thought about the fact that Gaara was actually 'Master Sundama'. Just why was Gaara ' _Master_  Sundama'? Neither he nor Kiba had mentioned anything about that type of thing. Either Gaara was some sort of royalty, or he was filthy rich. Well, he  _did_ live in a suite at the top of a giant building in a gated community. He was definitely packing some cash. Naruto's thoughts were deterred, though, as the elevator doors slipped open and he took in the view of the suite in awe.

He moved slowly into the expansive room. To his left was the living room area, in the middle of which sat the biggest tv Naruto had ever seen against an entire wall of floor-to-ceiling windows that were, oddly enough, tinted so black that you could barely make out the lights beyond as fuzzy blurs. To his immediate left, he saw what looked like a huge cabinet sitting behind a bar. To his immediate right was the kitchen area with an island big enough to fit ten people, at least. On his right beyond the kitchen was what he assumed to be a bathroom. There was also, of course, an upper level protruding about halfway across the space toward Naruto, supported by three columns along the room.

Naruto looked up to see the back of a redhead rummaging through books in a built-in bookcase on the upper level. Naruto thought to call out to Gaara and announce his arrival, but before he could open his mouth he saw Kiba's familiar face beaming and rushing out of the door on the right half of the upper level.

"Naruto!" Kiba exclaimed happily as he bustled down the hall to descend a spiral staircase on the right. "You're here! You're fine! No injuries, right?" Kiba added uncertainly as he reached the lower level and gestured for Naruto to come in.

"Uh… no," Naruto said, followed by a chuckle. "I'm alright."

"What do you want to drink?" Gaara asked stiffly as he walked along the upper level to the staircase on the left side. "We've got anything you can think of." Naruto stared at him for a moment, wondering what to thank for Gaara's sour mood. Naruto turned his attention to the bar he had taken notice of when he first came in.

Automatically, he said, "Oh, no, it's fine." Gaara reached the bottom of the staircase and gazed at Naruto as if he were bored.

"Drop the pleasantries. What do you want?" he asked again, looking very unhappy. Kiba glared disapprovingly at Gaara, but Gaara didn't seem to care.

"I really don't know," Naruto said, conflicted as he followed Kiba to sit down at the bar. When Naruto and Kiba found their destined seats, Naruto gaped at the vast amount of alcohol stored in the cabinets behind the bar. Gaara smiled for the first time with pride for his alcoholic collection and Naruto said decidedly, "I'll just have what you have." Gaara's smile widened.

"Scotch," he said appreciatively. Then, he seemed to catch wind of Kiba's deepening disapproval and questioned it straight on. "Are you glowering at me because I'm drinking or because I'm not drinking one of those girly, fruity drinks you prefer?"

Kiba huffed loudly. "If it's good, it's good! Who cares if it puts hairs on your chest or not? I like my chest hairless, for your information."

Gaara chuckled lightly and replied, "Yes, I am aware. I, however, like my chest hairy."

"In the proverbial sense," Kiba corrected quickly. "I'll wax you in your sleep if you don't do it yourself," Kiba threatened.

"I know you will," Gaara agreed lightly.

Naruto smiled. It was nice to be in the presence of their endearing bickering again and to see the dark cloud over Gaara's head wavering. Just as quickly as Gaara's eyes lit up, though, they darkened again. The little bickering they'd just shared seemed to remind Gaara of something and he looked as if he was trying not to jump across the bar and punch Kiba.

Gaara retrieved a bottle of scotch from the giant cabinet and pulled two glasses from underneath the bar. Kiba promptly snatched one glass up and threw it across the room into the kitchen. It shattered against the edge of the kitchen island loudly and Naruto jumped. He whirled around to look at Kiba, but to his surprise there was no trace of anger there. He was smirking smugly. Gaara moved to get another glass but Kiba interrupted him with a warning.

"I'll just throw that one too," Kiba said and Gaara paused, half reaching beneath the bar.

"Are you gonna break them all?" Gaara questioned dully, as if this happened often.

"We can buy more, can't we?" Kiba said, raising a brow that was daring Gaara to pull out another glass. Gaara straightened up and rolled his eyes, but they were void of resentment and full of amusement. "It seems I won't be having a drink with you, Naruto," Gaara said, turning to regard the confused blond.

"No, you won't, Master Sundama," Kiba jested and Naruto couldn't help but laugh, partly out of nerves and partly out of honest amusement.

To Naruto's surprise, Gaara laughed as well. His laugh was warm and honest, signalling another return of his good spirits. Would it last longer than ten seconds this time? Naruto couldn't help but find this whole situation odd. Kiba was throwing glasses and, yet, everyone was laughing it off merrily.

"I'd rather not drink alone," Naruto said finally.

"Oh, mkay," Kiba said, shrugging, smiling, and chucking the remaining glass into the kitchen too. It broke against the fridge and Naruto stared after it with renewed concern, but he smiled when he saw two happy faces regarding him.

"Wanna do one?" Kiba asked excitedly, as if throwing glasses around their suite was all just fun and games. Naruto shrugged indifferently, although he really wanted to. Kiba held out an expectant hand and Gaara supplied him with a fresh glass. Kiba handed it to Naruto and nodded his approval.

"Chuck it," Kiba urged.

Naruto hesitated for a moment, unsure of whether he should do it or not. But then he chose to embrace the atmosphere and be sporadic too. The glass flew the length of the apartment and broke against the wall above the stove. Naruto stared at the spot where the glass had vanished and likened it to his own life for a fleeting moment. Everything that he had ever loved had vanished. First, his mother had died. Then, his father. Next, he'd lost his home. Lastly, he'd lost his godfather. What did he have left?

Kiba placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and Naruto turned to see Kiba's understanding eyes scrunched up with a smile. How could Kiba understand? He couldn't, but he did. Naruto glanced at Gaara, who was managing to smiling softly too, so Naruto smiled back and realized that things were perfectly fine. At the very least, he had these two. He had two very new, very important people to him, people that he loved spending time with. This was what he was left with, and he felt immeasurably better at the thought.

"Let's all have a scotch!" Kiba said cheerily.

Gaara looked hesitant but pulled out three glasses regardless. The entire time he poured them out, he kept a skeptical brow raised at Kiba, as if expecting him to throw the filled glasses across the room too. Now it was Kiba who wanted a drink and Gaara who was silently protesting. Naruto found this abrupt change in roles comforting. It was far more like their dynamic to be in this kind of ebb and flow, and Naruto was not sad to see the controlling part of Gaara dissipate. He raised his glass with a bright smile and sipped at his scotch, only slightly appreciating the burn it provided. It became clear that he was not a scotch lover. Gaara's sipping was clearly reverent, but Kiba downed his glass in a couple of skilled gulps. He took notice of the lingering grimace on Naruto's face and laughed at the blond.

"Don't like it?" Kiba asked. Naruto shrugged his shoulders, but he could tell that his face was screaming 'not at all'. "I've got it," Kiba said as he seized Naruto's glass and downed it just as quickly as he had downed his own.

Gaara stared for a long moment at Kiba and Naruto thought that they were sharing the same astonishment until Gaara burst out in laughter. While Gaara was busy laughing, Kiba nicked his drink too and downed it in a gulp. When Gaara realized what Kiba had done, he laughed even harder. Naruto was enjoying the return of Gaara's good attitude.

"A damn alcoholic, you are," Gaara said between chuckles.

"Eh, it takes the edge off," Kiba said, shrugging. "You know, being a—" Gaara's laughter ceased abruptly and he made a hissing noise to silence Kiba mid-sentence.

"Three glasses of scotch make you careless," Gaara snapped, glaring threateningly at Kiba.

Naruto expected Kiba to retort quickly or else huff, but he did neither. This was the return of the strange dynamic that Naruto did not like. Kiba, first, looked absolutely regretful of what he was beginning to say. Then, he grew meek and apologetic as he shifted uncomfortably beneath Gaara's glare. Naruto wasn't surprised at Kiba's sudden submissiveness after catching a glimpse of Gaara's glower either. There was a definite hardness in Gaara's eyes and, yet, something Naruto would liken to guilt or regret sitting just behind. This was, clearly, not their typical bickering. They had stumbled upon some very serious subject and Naruto felt as if he was intruding on a private moment.

He began to wonder, however, about Gaara. A thought had just occurred to him. Kiba looked like a wounded animal cowering. Gaara's attitude was always changing at the drop of a dime. He was always watching Kiba's every movement. He was vigilant of what Kiba was saying. He was always clutching to Kiba as if he were going to disappear into thin air. Naruto couldn't help but wonder if Gaara… maybe Gaara was abusive. Just as Naruto was wondering these terrible thoughts, the elevator dinged and he was glad for something else to look at. As annoying as Gaara's ever-shifting attitude could be and as unnerving as his glare on Kiba was right now, Naruto didn't want to think Gaara capable of something like that. He was a good guy. Naruto knew he was, and he didn't want to think otherwise.

Naruto turned expectantly toward the elevator doors for his savior and out strode a tall, slender Sasuke. Not a savior at all. He glided across the room without regarding anyone at all. He tossed his belongings over the back of the couch and then turned smoothly to walk toward the trio at the bar. Still, he didn't seem to really see anyone there at all. He moved behind Gaara, looking for something to drink. He seemed to be concentrating very hard on something else, something not in this room. When Naruto looked to Kiba and Gaara, both of their faces were filled with apprehension and Naruto got the idea that Sasuke didn't quite notice that Naruto was there, nor were they expecting Sasuke to show up in the first place. Dread slowly welled up inside of Naruto.

"Sai invited me out," Sasuke sighed, still facing the cabinets and searching.

Naruto could see anger overtake Gaara's features at the words. He loathed Sai. He probably hated Sai even more than before now that Sasuke was  _still_  with him, even after he had kissed Naruto. Kiba looked as if he wanted to interrupt Sasuke, but he couldn't muster up the courage to do so. Perhaps he expected Sasuke would figure it out on his own. Gaara had seemingly forgotten all about Naruto in favor of focusing on Sasuke's words.

"He's still going out and hunting," Sasuke continued.

"That bastard," Gaara snarled.

"I know," Sasuke agreed, still searching the liquor.

"You were going out with him just a couple of weeks ago, weren't you?" Gaara snapped and Naruto was shocked at the ferocity with which he spoke. Sasuke froze for a moment before resuming his search.

"I stopped, Gaara. It was momentary," Sasuke continued calmly.

"He's not seeing Sai at all anymore and Sai persuaded him away from us, Gaara," Kiba said quietly, glancing at Naruto with great concern that told Naruto he shouldn't be hearing this and probably wouldn't be if Sasuke had noticed him. "You understand how that can happen," Kiba added warily. When Gaara turned to Kiba, clearly enraged by what he'd just said, Kiba went on quickly, "I just meant that—"

"I know what you meant!" Gaara snapped at Kiba who flinched at the response, tears welling up in his eyes. "And one hunt is all it takes," Gaara added angrily, now speaking to Sasuke's back. "It changes you. You'll never be the same. Why do you think our parents raised us on supplements? Once you start—"

"Gaara," Kiba interjected quickly, being the only one who cared about Naruto's presence and attempting to stop the conversation in its tracks. He glanced nervously at Naruto. Gaara continued with something much less incriminating, something Naruto couldn't discern so easily. "I've tried to stop you, Sasuke," Gaara said quietly. "Our parents wouldn't have wanted that life for us."

"You shouldn't be scolding me about my life, Gaara. What would father say about  _yours_?" Sasuke taunted. "You shrug off blame by calling this relationship civilized. It's all the same. We're all leeches, in the end."

Naruto stared precariously at Kiba, whose face was riddled with anxiety. What in the world could they be talking about? Naruto decided at once that Gaara was, indeed, abusive. That must have been what Sasuke meant. Gaara was feeding off of Kiba's fear or something. Maybe Gaara and Sasuke were part of some secret sadist club that hunted down their prey at night and Sai was in on it too. That must be it. Maybe  _they_  were the rapists and murderers that Kiba was always covertly warning Naruto to avoid. The scenario seemed absurd, but it was the only thing he could come up with to make any sense of the conversation unfolding before him. The long, tense silence that allowed Naruto to make up this crazy theory while Kiba looked afraid to talk, Sasuke continued to rummage, and Gaara looked stunned and enraged was finally broken by Gaara's loud voice.

"It's not the same as hunting!" Gaara proclaimed. "I…" Gaara looked over at Kiba and his eyes were full of guilt. Naruto sensed that this was the topic that Kiba had been bordering on talking about earlier when Gaara glared him threateningly into silence. "I've never…" Gaara began but found that he couldn't find the words.

"You've never what?" Sasuke said, as if daring Gaara to deny Sasuke's accusations.

"Think about how devastated  _your_  father would be to hear you've been…" Gaara paused before going on more confidently. "What would they say if they knew you were leeching?"

"You tell me. You  _would_  know firsthand, wouldn't you?" Sasuke said calmly. His tone of voice was casual but it was, clearly, meant to be insulting.

"Yes," Gaara hissed, "I  _would_  know. That's why I'm bothered to warn—"

"Warn yourself," Sasuke interrupted. "Don't act like you've got some experience I don't, Gaara. You're barely older than me and none the wiser either. I think I understand perfectly well. I've been on far more hunts than you."

"You proud of that?" Gaara snarled.

"Please!" Sasuke scoffed. "You've got your own personal hunt going every single day." Sasuke was growing more agitated and bumping bottles in the cabinets more roughly, but he rummaged on with his back turned nonetheless.

"It was one very bad call that I couldn't—" Gaara began hotly.

"You said it yourself, one hunt is all it takes," Sasuke interjected coolly.

"Yes, well, I don't deny  _that_ but  _Kiba_  has… Kiba is… Kiba consents," Gaara said weakly, as if he didn't truly believe his words to be a valid enough excuse.

"Prey is prey, Gaara," Sasuke said plainly. "Just because I ran around with Sai to get it doesn't mean having a feeder isn't just as bad."

"We've never stood for that!" Gaara argued crossly without hesitation. "We've never stood for hunts! Maybe Kiba  _was_  a mistake, okay?" Gaara exclaimed and Kiba looked absolutely offended by the words. Gaara, however, plowed on, ignorant of Kiba's pained expression. "Maybe I never should have done it, any of it, but I did and now I can't stop! That's why I tried to stop you from ever running with Sai's crowd! He's a fiend! They don't want to stop!" Sasuke didn't seem affected by Gaara's emotion.

"All I'm saying is not to chastise me for something you do yourself. You say it's more civilized than what Sai does but it's all the same. The only difference is that Kiba says yes," Sasuke said flatly, still searching for one specific bottle. "Both of our parents would rather have our heads than accept our lifestyles. Nonetheless, you're just as corrupted as I am."

"Except the pursuit doesn't thrill  _me_ ," Gaara retorted quietly. "I have quelled the monster within me.  _I_  have no desire to—"

Sasuke seemed to be able to predict the next words and he interrupted Gaara promptly. "Where's the fucking scotch," he said loudly, pushing a bottle of liquor so forcefully that it toppled out of the cabinet.

Naruto stood from his chair quickly and reached over the bar in an automatic movement to catch the bottle, even though he knew he wouldn't actually be able to save it. To Naruto's great surprise, though, Sasuke kicked his foot up behind him and nudged the bottle perfectly back up, over his shoulder, and into his waiting hand. Naruto gaped at Sasuke. How could anyone have such good reflexes? He didn't even look at the bottle but caught it and replaced it effortlessly. Both Kiba and Gaara seemed to notice Naruto's existence again and they were staring at him nervously. They seemed to remember that he wasn't supposed to be hearing these things and neither of them knew just what to do. Kiba looked desperately to Gaara for direction and Gaara looked down at the scotch. Before he could think of anything smarter to say, Gaara said the first thing that came to his mind.

"The scotch is here," he said slowly, answering Sasuke's question.

Sasuke began to turn around and Naruto swore everything dropped down to slow motion. This was it. This was the moment that Sasuke would see Naruto's face and then he couldn't be sure what would happen next. Naruto swallowed thickly as Sasuke reached his hand toward the bottle on the bar, stopping abruptly to stare at Naruto. Naruto stared right back and all the questions running through his mind were momentarily lost. He was entranced by the dark eyes boring into him, eyes that he couldn't read at all. He couldn't tell if Sasuke was furious or confused or shocked or scared. For all Naruto knew, Sasuke could be elated. After a short while of Sasuke simply staring at Naruto, Gaara staring at Sasuke, and Kiba staring at Gaara, Sasuke broke the silence.

"I'm going," Sasuke said softly, apparently using all of his might to speak. He, then, turned and began to walk back to his things. Naruto was suddenly full of life again.

"W-Wait," Naruto said, getting to his feet and staring after Sasuke who was now putting on his coat. Sasuke didn't respond, so Naruto continued. "I… I… what's a feeder?" Naruto blurted out, for that was the first question that came to mind. Sasuke's muscles visibly tensed and his upper lip twitched.

"Nothing," he said very quietly and moved toward the elevator. In a dramatic fit, Naruto ran ahead and flung himself in front of the doors. Sasuke snorted at him. "Move," he commanded.

"No," Naruto refuted quickly. "What's so special about Akatsake?" Naruto pressed on, his earlier questions posed to Kiba coming into the fray. "What, are you guys in some sadist gang or something?"

Sasuke's lip twitched again. "Sure," he said dully, "whatever you say. Move."

"No," Naruto said defiantly.

"Why?" Sasuke asked, his patience clearly waning as he pushed the button to summon the elevator.

"Uh… I… want to talk to you," Naruto said loudly and confidently.

"Move!" Sasuke yelled and Naruto's pulse came to him quicker at the unexpected outrage. This only seemed to anger Sasuke even further.

"N-No," Naruto replied.

The doors to the elevator slid open and Sasuke palmed Naruto hard in the chest. Naruto crumpled onto the floor painfully as his breath escaped him. Sasuke grabbed Naruto by the front of his shirt and dragged him out of the elevator. He spared a dark glance to Kiba and Gaara, who only watched on in astonishment, and dropped Naruto a few feet from the elevator doors. He walked back into the elevator and slammed his fist against the lobby button, disappearing out of sight.

_To be continued..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here are the links for Gaara and Kiba's suite apartment.
> 
> Bottom Floor:  
> i169.photobucket.com/albums/u226/RainbowsWorthRain/Fic-Related/GaaraKibaMMaptbottomfloor.png
> 
> Top Floor:  
> i169.photobucket.com/albums/u226/RainbowsWorthRain/Fic-Related/GaaraKibaMMaptupperfloor.png
> 
> Lobby:  
> i169.photobucket.com/albums/u226/RainbowsWorthRain/Fic-Related/Groundfloorplans.png


	5. Leeching

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings:  
> —Trace amounts of blood but don't worry, I'm no fan of gore. If you hate hearing about it at all, though, then run away because it's here.  
> —Physical abuse... if you can call it that. You'll see what I'm talking about.

Kiba rushed over to Naruto who lay doubled over, clutching at his chest, in the middle of the floor. Gaara stood watching the pair from behind the bar, his eyes vacant as he thought over the encounter with Sasuke.

"Fuck! Are you okay?" Kiba asked worriedly, trying to turn Naruto to lie on his back.

"F-Fine," Naruto said breathlessly, opposing the shift in position. "J-Just knocked the w-wind outta me." He smiled at Kiba to try and reassure his worried friend, even as he lay doubled up on the ground and refusing to move in compliance with Kiba's attempts to right him.

Before Kiba could speak anymore, however, Gaara was upon him. Gaara appeared behind the brunette and grasped his arm roughly above the elbow. Naruto would have grimaced and probably shouted in Kiba's defense if he had the time. Before either Naruto or Kiba could even think of protesting, Gaara was dragging Kiba across the kitchen. Naruto rolled over quickly onto his stomach to keep the pair in sight. Kiba was struggling to find his feet, but Gaara was dragging him too quickly.

To Naruto, Kiba was struggling. Kiba was, of course, struggling to simply walk properly, not out of fear or an attempt to get away as Naruto had concluded so quickly. They disappeared behind a door and it slammed shut with a loud bang. Naruto laid there on the floor for a short moment before struggling to his feet and hurrying over the door. He steeled himself to burst inside and rescue Kiba, but Kiba's voice stopped him.

"Just calm down, Gaara," Kiba said soothingly. He was not at all frantic or afraid. Naruto recognized, then, that Kiba would have followed Gaara calmly and willingly into the room had he been given a chance to find his footing, so he  _wasn't_  trying to get away. Naruto felt slightly reassured. Although, he was still on the fence about Gaara. Gaara had proven himself to be much rougher with Kiba than Naruto ever suspected tonight.

"I can _not_  believe that he spoke to me like that!" Gaara hissed. "That bastard! He's so fucking full of himself! He bared his fangs at me too! Did you see that?  _The fucking nerve_!"

"Calm down," Kiba repeated softly. "It was the situation, not you. Plus, he'd been drinking. You could smell it on him."

Gaara scoffed. "As if that's an excuse."

"It is," Kiba argued softly. "At least it is for you. Why any different for him?" There was a momentary pause before Kiba added, "You know he'd never bare his fangs at you anyway. If he was flashing them at anyone, it was Naruto. He's just still upset about him and Sai."

"Upset?" Gaara snarled, finding the word to be absurdly used.

"You know how he is," Kiba said in Sasuke's defense. "He's always been this way. What surprises you so much now?" For a short moment, both were silent again before Kiba went on. "He can't express his feelings like you can, Gaara. You know that, and remember that the only reason you're  _not_  just like Sasuke is because of me."

"As if he's never  _had_  you," Gaara cut in roughly.

Naruto wondered briefly if Kiba and Sasuke had once been a couple. It would explain the stifling tension between Sasuke and Gaara. Naruto didn't have the time to think about that though. Kiba went on with his thoughts, as if Gaara hadn't spoken and Naruto's mind went blank to listen

"He doesn't want to admit it, but Sai really hurt him. He's still reeling from it. He wouldn't have said all that stuff if he wasn't. You know he's not like Sai. You and I  _both_  know he's not."

"I don't know him at all anymore," Gaara disagreed angrily. "If you're so sure Sasuke's  _not_  like him, then why did I see a sick double of Sai just now?"

"That wasn't Sasuke," Kiba argued.

"Well, if you're so damn sure that it  _wasn't_  Sasuke, then just who  _was_  it?" Gaara pressed menacingly. "Where  _is_  Sasuke? Because that looked a lot like him to me!"

"You know what I mean! It's not  _our_  Sasuke," Kiba refuted with a tone of annoyance, not appreciating Gaara's smartass way of taking his words so literally.

"You know what?" Gaara said quickly. "That  _was_  Sasuke and you know what else? That was a leech—" Kiba let out a small gasp. "—because  _our_ Sasuke  _is_   _a fucking leech_!"

"Don't say that!" Kiba exclaimed crossly. "How could you dare call your friend that?!"

"He's not my—" Gaara began.

"Yes he is!" Kiba snapped. "He  _is_  your friend and you will get your fucking senses straight, Gaara, or so help me god I will—"

"What?" Gaara interrupted with a growl. "What will you do if I don't? You can't hurt me!"

"There are many ways to hurt someone, Gaara," Kiba said in a low, threatening voice. Gaara snorted dismissively and Kiba went on in an even more threatening tone, "I'll stop letting you feed on me." Gaara made a deep guttural noise and then Naruto heard Kiba gasp loudly just before a loud thump told him that Kiba had been pinned against the wall. "Gaara!" Kiba gasped in pain.

"You can't stop me, can you?" Gaara taunted darkly.

At that moment, Naruto panicked. Kiba was in there in apparent danger and Naruto was just listening to it happen. He removed his ear from the door and shook his hands wildly in panic, trying to think of what to do. No coherent thoughts were coming to him, so he just barged into the room, terrified of what he would find. He could never have imagined that it would be what he  _did_  find though. Kiba's eyes flickered over to Naruto, but he couldn't move his head. Gaara had his hand clamped on Kiba's jaw line, pushing his head back against the tall cabinetry and up to reveal his throat. Gaara's other hand was restraining one of Kiba's wrists. Kiba's free hand was pushing hard against Gaara's chest. Kiba was lifted up onto his tiptoes, struggling to breathe properly.

It was the scene anyone would expect to see when you hear someone being banged up against a wall and threatened though, so that wasn't the real shocking blow. The really unnerving part of it all was what Naruto saw on Gaara, or rather  _in_  Gaara, or even more specifically  _in Gaara's mouth._  Gaara's head snapped over to Naruto, who was frozen in the doorway and transfixed on what he swore were unnaturally pointy teeth.

"Gaara," Kiba whispered quietly in a panic. Gaara released Kiba very slowly. He began turning to Naruto and Kiba grabbed fistfuls of his shirt, trying to wrench the redhead back to face him. "Gaara!" Kiba warned louder and more urgently.

Gaara stared at Naruto for a moment but made no move to advance. He closed his eyes and with a twitch of his lip, those pointy teeth were gone. Naruto stared in amazement for a long moment. Had he really just seen those teeth lift up  _into_  Gaara's mouth? Had he really seen them at all? Kiba released a breath of relief and placed his hand on the back of Gaara's neck, extending his thumb to rest on the well-worn spot on Gaara's neck where he rubbed calming circles against the patch of skin there as Naruto so often saw him doing. This seemed to be Gaara's weakness because it always calmed him down. Gaara began taking deep breaths and leaning into Kiba's touch.

Naruto swallowed nervously and Gaara's eyes snapped back open. The next thing Naruto knew, those pointy teeth were back, causing Naruto to swallow yet again and stagger back past the doorway. Gaara's muscles twitched violently as he advanced on Naruto. Kiba just barely managed to grab Gaara's clothes from the back. He leaned so far backwards that he was nearly sitting on the ground to restrain Gaara. Naruto could hear Gaara's shirt ripping under the stress as he swatted his arms out to reach Naruto.

"STOP! STOP! GAARA, STOP!" Kiba yelled, but Gaara seemed deaf to the boy's plights. Naruto was unable to register that, perhaps, those pointy teeth were real and posing a rather dangerous threat to his life right now. He could only stare. Finally, Kiba exclaimed desperately, "You can have it! You can have it! You can have mine!"

It was as if Gaara could hear the words before they even left Kiba's lips, for he instantly turned and pinned Kiba roughly back against the cabinetry. In a swift movement, he ripped the shirt where it covered the abused muscle where neck met shoulder. He, then, sunk those unbelievably pointy teeth deep into the skin and Kiba cried out quietly in pain, his free hand clawing at the back of Gaara's shirt.

"Gently!" Kiba commanded gruffly. "Be gentle, for fuck's sake!"

Gaara only gripped Kiba's left shoulder—which was closest to Naruto—even more firmly and pushed Kiba's pinned right wrist against the cabinets even harder, so that Kiba's hand was turning purple from the lack of circulation. Gaara groaned loudly and Kiba flinched as the redhead bit down harder, regardless of Kiba's pleas. Kiba chose to watch Naruto carefully rather than shut his eyes to the pain.

Naruto's mouth had gone dry. He couldn't quite see what was happening from his angle, so he edged back into the bathroom and to his right slowly. Kiba turned his head to follow Naruto with his eyes. Naruto finally felt his arm hit the cabinetry and his eyes widened at what this new angle revealed to him. He was definitely seeing Gaara's lips clamped around Kiba's skin. Naruto crooked his head slightly to the side to get a better angle but jumped back quickly when Gaara's ravenous eyes snapped up to regard him. His back slammed against the wall behind him and he swallowed a few more terrified lumps in his throat. He, then, remembered that swallowing had been what set Gaara on him in the first place, so he held his breath. Gaara didn't advance on Naruto as he had been expecting though. He pressed himself more firmly against Kiba, as if to shield him from Naruto's greedy hands instead.

"It's okay," Kiba reassured quietly. "He's not gonna detach for you."

Naruto looked uncertainly to Kiba and then released his breath. Naruto chose to trust Kiba's words and peer onward into Gaara's eyes. What used to be a bluish/green hue had now taken on a deep, dark shade of red. These eyes were terrifyingly bestial. Gaara was not at all himself. He was looking Naruto up and down, studying his every movement, as if he expected  _Naruto_  to lunge at  _him_. Naruto felt somewhat reassured by the fact that Gaara was now on the defensive and not looking to attack him, and then Naruto began to panic. He looked up at Kiba with frantic eyes, begging Kiba to tell him what to do, but Kiba returned Naruto with a calm, unfazed gaze.

"It's alright. Don't be afraid," Kiba said, trying to be reassuring.

Naruto gaped at him. Did Kiba really just tell him to not be afraid? Did Kiba know what Gaara was doing? If he did, then he should share because Naruto was absolutely baffled. Kiba, then, winced and brought his hand up to rub familiar, firm circles into the special spot on Gaara's neck.

"Off!" he exclaimed with a gasp. After a short moment and another strong grimace, Kiba demanded more desperately, "Off! Off! Off!" He rubbed the circles more roughly into Gaara's skin. Gaara's eyes seemed to being clearing slowly. "Off, Gaara!" Kiba repeated more frantically and he dug his thumb forcefully into the hinge of Gaara's jaw. "Please!"

Gaara's eyes clenched shut as he pushed Kiba's shoulder and wrist hard into the wall so that Kiba's hand went completely white. A loud crack echoed from one of Kiba's bones and he howled in pain, but he kept digging his thumb against Gaara's jaw nonetheless. Gaara detached himself with a great hiss, splattering blood against the cabinetry and taking a huge gasp of air. He staggered back quickly until his back was flat against the opposite wall beside the toilet. His eyes were bluish/green again and full of terror as they welled up with tears. Kiba slumped over heavily and clutched at his neck. He was shaking his newly freed hand vigorously, trying to get the blood pumping again but grimacing at the pain that it caused. Naruto could guess from Kiba's expression that it was his wrist that had cracked so loudly.

Kiba then fell to his knees and Naruto automatically looked expectantly to Gaara. He had gotten so used to Gaara's protective nature that he thought Gaara should be there instantly to support Kiba. Naruto had, of course, momentarily forgotten that Gaara had just been… been… well… he didn't know or, perhaps, he didn't  _want_  to know. Either way, Naruto realized that he didn't want Gaara anywhere near Kiba again. To Naruto's surprise though, Gaara flinched badly when Kiba fell to his knees. He flattened himself even further against the wall, as if wishing he could be one with it. Despite his seemingly helpless nature, Naruto watched Gaara attentively as he rushed to Kiba's side and knelt to throw a protective arm in front of the brunette.

"Don't," Kiba said feebly.

"Yeah, don't!" Naruto repeated loudly to Gaara. "Don't touch him!" Gaara didn't even look at Naruto. His eyes were glued to Kiba.

"No," Kiba said weakly as he knocked Naruto's arm down with his injured hand, " _you_." Naruto turned to look at Kiba in astonishment, but Kiba met his eyes with ferocity. "Don't treat him like that." Naruto stared at Kiba aghast for a moment before Gaara spoke.

"Get out," he croaked. When Naruto looked back at him, he was crouched into a ball between the toilet and the tub peering through his fingers at Kiba. "Please, get out!" he begged. Kiba nodded without looking at Gaara, apparently knowing what he'd see and that it'd be torture to watch. Instead, Kiba closed his eyes.

"Help me. I can't walk," he said quietly to Naruto and the blond obliged immediately. Kiba removed his hand from his wound and put his arm around Naruto's neck. With Naruto supporting his weight entirely, the pair left the bathroom and moved toward the couch. The bathroom door slammed shut as Naruto sat Kiba on the couch and Naruto jumped about a foot in the air, whirling around.

"It's fine," Kiba said. "I need water and chocolate." Naruto walked briskly into the kitchen. "Glasses are in the cupboard by the fridge," Kiba explained. Naruto came back moments later with a glass of water. "Thanks," Kiba said quietly. He was significantly paler and sweatier than when Naruto had set him down, thus concerning Naruto greatly. "Chocolate." Naruto thought this an odd request in Kiba's state, but he wanted to help nonetheless.

"Where is it?" Naruto asked eagerly. Kiba sighed, as if he was afraid to waste his breath talking any longer.

"Upstairs," Kiba began, nodding to the spiral staircase by the bathroom, "in that room," he continued, nudging his head in the direction of the door that he had come out of when Naruto first arrived. "It's in the… top drawer of the… nightstand on the… left side of the… bed by… the dresser," Kiba finished, panting heavily. Naruto stared at the staircase hesitantly. "He won't… hurt you," Kiba said quietly, though Naruto could tell it was just because he hadn't the strength to yell. "Take… those… then…" Kiba said panting heavier still and glancing at the spiral staircase on the opposite side of the suite by the bar. Naruto nodded. "Hurry," Kiba said breathlessly.

Naruto half ran up the stairs on the left and across the hall to the bedroom on the right. When he entered, he paused only momentarily to look for the bed. It was easily spotted and he headed quickly over to the nightstand between the bed and the dresser, as he was told to do. He opened the first drawer quickly and snatched the box of chocolate. He rushed down the steps by the bathroom, forgetting why he'd wanted to avoid them to begin with. As he was passing the door, however, he heard a muffled scream and the sound of something heavy slamming against the ground. It made Naruto jump and run to the couch, his heart hammering in his chest.

Kiba groaned quietly and Naruto could see that listening to Gaara in that bathroom was torture for him. Whether Gaara was a monster or not, whatever the fuck Gaara was, Kiba still obviously loved him and Naruto could understand that. It was just the same way that Beauty loved The Beast. What was baffling to Naruto was that Gaara had threatened Kiba so remorselessly in the bathroom. He had Kiba pinned against the wall and was prattling on about how Kiba couldn't stop him. Gaara was clearly abusive. How could Kiba love him in spite of that?

Kiba devoured a few big chunks of chocolate as Naruto paced warily on the other side of the coffee table, flinching every time a noise floated out from the bathroom. Kiba's strength was returning but Naruto wasn't paying any attention to him. His mind was racing and he was just trying to keep up.

Gaara had definitely just bitten Kiba. Gaara was probably abusing Kiba too. Kiba probably had marks and bruises all over his body. Eager to see this proof of abuse and desperate for at least  _one_  thing to be clear to him right now, Naruto rushed over to Kiba and wrenched the shirt away from the spot where Gaara had bitten him. Naruto was shocked to see absolutely nothing, not a single bruise or scar or, perhaps, he wasn't really shocked at all. The only thing that stood out was the bruising bite mark that had just been inflicted and was emitting droplets of blood, looking gruesome. It was mostly because of the splattered blood though, from Gaara hissing. Ignorant of Kiba's silent confusion, Naruto started ripping Kiba's shirt up over his head. He simply  _had_  to see the rest of Kiba. Where were the bruises hidden? Where were the scars?

"Wh-What are you doing, Naruto?" Kiba questioned, but Naruto was undeterred.

He finally got the shirt over Kiba's head to see that the man's body was perfectly untarnished. Naruto frowned. There wasn't a single mark. Unless Gaara was limiting his abuse to below the waist, Kiba was clean. Naruto mused about removing Kiba's pants but vaguely thought about how much Kiba would probably fight that. He'd probably be a dead man, too, if Gaara caught him undressing his boyfriend, what with those newly unexplained pointy teeth, whatever the fuck they were.

Naruto was just about to decide that the risk of Kiba fighting and Gaara killing him was worth it just to see some proof when he noticed a small patch of raised skin. Naruto sat down next to Kiba and inspected the area closely. Kiba sat quietly, understanding what Naruto was doing. Naruto found that there  _were_  scars on Kiba's body. Actually, they were all over Kiba's body. There were  _tons_  of them and they all looked like bite marks. They could only be seen if you looked really closely though.

There were none that resembled any kind of cut and there wasn't a single bruise, aside from the obvious ones, so Kiba didn't really  _look_  like a victim of domestic abuse. Naruto wasn't sure if he was relieved or not, but Kiba couldn't possibly be getting that kind of treatment and  _not_  suffer a single bruise or scratch. Kiba looked perfectly intact. The bite marks all over him were pathetic too. They looked shallow, almost as if they weren't even there. Naruto had to tell himself that being bitten was abuse too. So maybe Gaara wasn't beating Kiba, but he was definitely biting him and… and… and what?

Just  _what_  was Gaara doing? Naruto had discerned that Gaara was definitely doing a lot of biting, but there were no answers as to what for. This all seemed a little too weird of behavior to just be some biting fetish. Gaara had changed, so Naruto was forced to face the question head on.  _What_  was Gaara?

"You're confused, I know," Kiba said quietly. Naruto only then noticed how strongly Kiba spoke. He hadn't noticed at the time, but Kiba had even fought to have his shirt removed, something he should have been far too weak to do. Kiba had, somehow, regained his strength.

"Yes," Naruto said quietly. "In short, I'm confused."

"Well, I guess we'll  _have_  to tell you now, won't we?" Kiba said lightly as he propped his feet up on the coffee table and leaned back into the couch.

"Tell me what?" Naruto asked as he sat up more stiffly on the couch, unable to relax as easily as Kiba.

"Everything we've been trying to hide from you," Kiba said nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders.

"How are you so… so…  _you_?" Naruto asked, unable to find the right words. "A minute ago you were… You were…"

"Dying?" Kiba finished through a mouth full of chocolate. "I  _was_  dying but the chocolate helps," he explained as he swallowed the treat. "I can't explain it too well, but it's got something to do with counteracting the venom. Of course, we get special chocolate anyway to do a better job of that." Another loud scream and a bang issued from the bathroom and Kiba looked fretfully in that direction. "Alcohol dulls the edge and I  _did_ have three glasses of scotch, so the urges should die down soon. It always makes him reckless too though. He'll probably be banging things up for a bit," Kiba said vacantly, staring at the bathroom.

"Venom?" Naruto asked. His thoughts were stuck on that one word. "You weren't dying from lack of…" Naruto wanted to say 'blood', but that would be saying that Gaara was sucking Kiba's blood and he wasn't sure he could think that without feeling absolutely insane. Kiba let the silence drag out a moment longer, seeing if Naruto would finish.

"I  _did_  lose a bit of blood but it takes a lot more feeding than that to do you in," Kiba informed decidedly. "Shit, Gaara would have to do  _a lot_  worse to drain me dry and kill me." Naruto looked at Kiba blankly. What the fuck was Kiba saying? "It's the venom that makes you pale looking. It's venom that makes you cold and clammy. It makes you weak and starts to kill you. It makes it hard for the prey to fight back, you know?" Kiba said casually, forgetting that he wasn't speaking to someone who was as accustomed to vampires as he himself was. Thinking better of his casual tone, Kiba continued on a bit more tentatively, "Well… Uh… Do you get what I'm saying, Naruto?"

"No," Naruto said slowly, "I do not get it."

Kiba sighed and sat upright on the couch. "I'm saying that Gaara is a vampire," he said plainly.

He had learned from his own experience of being told that the best way to do it was just to say it. It's not easy to swallow whether you're blunt or not. If you beat around the bush, though, it just wasted more time. Of course, Kiba had been three when he learned about vampires and Naruto was nineteen, but Kiba suspected it would all be the same no matter what age.

Naruto stared into Kiba's eyes for a short moment before looking down at his legs. He mulled the word over a few times in his head and then, eventually, simply decided not to fight it. Why should he? Just because society says things like that don't exist doesn't mean that it's true. He was sitting here with someone whom he trusted completely after having witnessed him literally having his blood sucked. What was there to argue? It seemed rather plain and obvious. Until someone could prove otherwise, Gaara was a… a vampire. It seemed unreal and, yet, here it was, so obviously real. Naruto still felt a little insane, but he didn't want to waste the energy psychoanalyzing the situation.

"So… that's why you've been so weird with me?" Naruto asked, slightly happy that he'd finally get the answers to all of his curiosities.

"Yes…" Kiba said slowly, apparently expecting Naruto to freak out any minute now.

"That's why I can't walk down 54th and that's why I can't go out at night alone?" Naruto added.

"Yes," Kiba affirmed again, looking concerned that Naruto hadn't flipped shit.

"I'm not going to panic," Naruto informed Kiba once he'd looked into Kiba's eyes and saw that Kiba was clearly expecting it. "I panicked enough in that bathroom for days." Kiba laughed and Naruto found himself laughing along. It was a strange and foreign feeling. When did this situation become so light?

"It's a dangerous city here," Kiba said once his laughter died. "There are a lot of nightwalkers, unlike other cities."

"Nightwalkers?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Nightwalkers are the ones who attack humans. I'll bet this is the only city in the world that has this many. They're everywhere, but VSAF takes care of them pretty quickly if they don't heed warnings," Kiba began. Naruto didn't mind the lengthy explanation that followed. It just meant that Kiba was back to his old self, chatting up a storm.

"Vampires For the Safety of Humankind is the full name, but everyone calls it VSAF. It's like the vampire police force, but they're not really official. They just have enough support to take out the ones who don't listen to them. That fact alone keeps mostly everyone in check. They're really lax though. They don't interfere really at all. They're just a bunch vamps who don't believe in feeding on humans. They created a supplement for human blood to avoid feeding on humans and a lot of vamps use that, but there are also those that prefer animals. It's not human, but it's better than a cold, lifeless supplement. You know, something about the whole hunting and killing thing makes it taste better I guess. I don't really know. I'm only human.

"In any case, VSAF will give vamps known to prey on humans a couple of warnings but if ignored, they'll hunt them down and kill them. Unfortunately, there was a gang of nightwalkers that popped up in this city some time ago. Most nightwalkers choose to live out in the country where VSAF pays them less attention. It's easier to do what you want out there. This gang that popped up, though, has been really good about keeping themselves hidden. They prey on the homeless, orphans, or anyone that won't be missed. VSAF can't punish them if they don't even know they're hunting, right? They've got too many clever people in the gang like Sai," Kiba explained.

"Sai? He's one of them?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah," Kiba said ruefully. "Damn leech."

"Leech? That was what Gaara called Sasuke too, right?" Naruto asked.

"Yes," Kiba said rigidly and disdainfully, clearly offended that Gaara would use such a word on Sasuke. Naruto found the fact that Kiba was defending Sasuke very odd too. "It's just a slur used against nightwalkers, people who are too weak or corrupted to resist feeding on humans. They don't value human life. They act like their lives are much different from ours," Kiba said.

"Kiba, wasn't… wasn't Gaara once… I mean, it sounded like…" Naruto trailed off when he saw Kiba's reproachful glare.

"Yes, I was a leech," Gaara said quietly from the doorway.

"You were not!" Kiba exclaimed quickly, whipping around to reprimand his companion. When he turned back to Naruto, he saw that Naruto had jumped from the couch and backed away, only to find himself backing into more couch. The sight angered Kiba.

"Don't!" Kiba warned Naruto angrily. "Don't do that, Naruto!" Kiba's eyes were brimming with frustrated tears and Naruto could see just how much it hurt Kiba to watch Naruto act so differently toward Gaara. Naruto couldn't see how he shouldn't though.

"He… He just… But… He bit you! He bites you all the time from the looks of it!" Naruto exclaimed, desperate for Kiba to see some sense. "Is it always that gruesome and violent? I'll bet it is! I'm surprised you're not dead, Kiba! You don't have to take it, you know," Naruto said, lowering his voice sympathetically. "If he's threatening your—"

"Shut up!" Kiba hollered. "Don't you  _dare_  say that about Gaara! I won't hear it!" Naruto stared at Kiba pleadingly for a moment, but it seemed that Kiba would continue to wholeheartedly defend Gaara, despite how little Gaara seemed to deserve it.

"It's alright, Kiba," Gaara said softly. He walked to the armchair sitting at across from the part of the couch that Naruto had stumbled into. He sat down stiffly, sinking in comfortably once he made contact. "I deserve a bit of that."

"You do not," Kiba argued quickly and quietly, his voice trembling and falling to a whisper. "Don't say that."

"Kiba," Gaara said gruffly, as though he was tired of the conversation, even if it had  _just_  started. "Your loyalty may be your downfall." Kiba looked as if he was going to argue but, instead, turned to Naruto.

"Sit back down," he ordered, pointing a demanding finger at the couch where Naruto had been sitting.

Naruto hesitated but decided, or rather hoped, that Gaara was done with blood sucking for the night and did as he was told. However, he chose to sit down on the patch of couch he had migrated to rather than the spot he had previously occupied. Here he, at least, had a whole coffee table between Gaara and himself. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing except poor, abused Kiba.

"Now, you listen to me Naruto. Gaara does not mistreat me."

"Kiba—" Gaara began but was waved off with a dismissive hand.

"Gaara is nothing but good to me," Kiba continued.

"I don't—" Gaara began but was interrupted again.

"He does not, I repeat,  _does not_  abuse me. I am a feeder, Naruto. This is what I'm meant for. I offer and he bites," Kiba said firmly and Gaara made no attempt to disagree this time. Kiba stared at Naruto quietly, and Naruto could see a conflict burning within but it didn't look like Kiba would share on that subject. "It sometimes isn't pretty, but don't you dare think less of him for that. It's hard to fight a temper  _and_  the constant urge to suck someone's blood all at once. What you saw tonight is by no means what happens every night."

Naruto was silent, so Gaara took his chance to voice his opinion. "I shouldn't have done it. I shouldn't have touched you."

"It was either that or Naruto," Kiba argued quickly. "You were a mess, Gaara. If I didn't give you permission, you'd have…" Kiba let the sentence die. "I wasn't going to let you do that."

"Exactly!" Gaara exclaimed. "You had to suffer to keep me from killing him! I'm a monster!" Kiba grimaced, the notion of killing Naruto having been what he was trying to avoid saying.

"It happens," Kiba argued. "Every goddamn vampire on the planet has lost control! You're not the only one, Gaara. You're not a monster." Gaara gave Kiba a significant stare that was silently disagreeing. Kiba held it for a short moment before saying softly, "It's been years, Gaara.  _Years_. You're different." Naruto got the feeling that they were talking about something that he wasn't in on, and he was curious.

"Since what?" Naruto asked, thinking that if Gaara had some really dirty vampire secret, he wanted to know.

"Nothing," Kiba said quickly, not even bothering to look at Naruto.

"I thought we weren't playing that game anymore?" Naruto argued, causing Kiba to look at him. Kiba seemed to be weighing his options. That was true. He  _had_  told Naruto that he would tell him the truth. However, this particular truth might be best left unsaid. Kiba was about to reiterate his 'nothing' when Gaara spoke up.

"I killed my neighbor," Gaara said plainly right to Naruto, who stared at him wide-eyed.

"What?" Naruto managed to whisper, though the horror was crisp and clear in his voice. This sent a look of shame barreling through Gaara's eyes.

"I was twelve," Gaara explained. "I was running with the wrong crowd and they convinced me to do it. I was curious and young. I was  _stupid_. I have never in my life been a nightwalker, Naruto," Gaara added hastily. "I was raised right. My family are good and decent, but those friends of mine just kept tempting me. I happened to see my neighbor walking home one night, so I just decided to do it. I ended up chasing him down an alley and… I killed him," Gaara finished regretfully, a look of disgust for himself filling his features.

Naruto felt repulsed by the story. Gaara, his friend, was a vampire and he had once killed a man. He didn't just kill him though. He hunted him down like an animal. Naruto swallowed thickly. Gaara  _was_  young, though, and he was pressured by his 'friends'. Anyone would crack under peer pressure. Sure, most of the time your friends weren't trying to convince you to commit murder, but Naruto had to remind himself that this wasn't normal life anymore. This was vampire life.

Gaara had been confused, surely. Just like that time that Naruto had stolen a coke from the convenience store. His friends convinced him that it was no big deal, but he felt terrible afterward. Gaara had been convinced to kill. Certainly, that wasn't easy on him. Naruto reminded himself who he was talking to. Despite what Naruto was inclined to assume, Gaara was  _good_  and Naruto knew that. Was he going to let some preconceived notion and a lack of understanding cloud his mind?

He understood now though. He couldn't pretend to understand the struggles of a vampire, but he  _could_  rely on the truths that he knew of Gaara now. And he knew that Gaara was a good man. Was he truly going to punish Gaara, the man who sat before him now so honestly regretful and pained by his own decisions? Wouldn't Gaara, certainly, have already been punished enough? If the look of remorse on his face wasn't enough to convince Naruto that, if nothing else, Gaara had suffered plenty of emotional punishment for his actions, then nothing was.

"You were young," Naruto finally said quietly. Gaara looked up at him reluctantly, as if he feared that Naruto would see the monster within him once their eyes met and take the words back. "It wasn't your fault. I know… I know you as you are  _now_ , Gaara," Naruto said, a smile creeping up on his lips. "You're a moody, broody guy, but you have a great laugh and you're my friend."

Gaara's chest heaved as Naruto said the words and he looked away abruptly, clearly trying to hide his tears. Kiba smiled gratefully at Naruto and moved to slide into the chair beside Gaara and enclose him in a hug. Gaara pushed him away roughly, though, and Kiba slid off onto the floor, looking at Gaara angrily.

"I could hurt you. I've… I've done it twice now," Gaara said. "I don't know who I've become but I don't want to kill you, Kiba. I'll never forgive myself if I do."

"You won't!" Kiba said with confidence. "You never could, Gaara. You came back to me when I asked."

"Just barely!" Gaara snapped as he buried his face in his hands. "I just  _barely_  felt you, Kiba," he groaned miserably.

"But you felt me, nonetheless," Kiba argued. "It doesn't matter if I come to you through a shout or a whisper! What matters is that you hear me!"

"I almost—" Gaara began.

" _Almost_!" Kiba exclaimed, scrambling to kneel before Gaara and wrenching his hands from his face, forcing the redhead to look at him. " _Almost_  is the key word here.  _Almost_  is the difference between life and death and  _I am alive_."

"By luck," Gaara retorted.

"No! By love!" Kiba argued. "Don't you dare refute me!" Kiba warned when Gaara opened his mouth. " _I_  chose this life."

" _As a child_ ," Gaara stressed. "We were  _children_  and you were  _stupid_  and  _I_  was selfish. I was blood thirsty and you were so fucking willing."

"What?" Kiba said, a mirthless laugh escaping his mouth. It was dry and almost hysterical. "You're kidding."

"No!" Gaara said sharply. "You've had years of abuse by my hand. We aren't children anymore. You can't be just like your mother."

"Don't you dare!" Kiba snapped.

"Why not?" Gaara refuted. "That's what started this whole mess and it was fine back then but fuck, Kiba! Look at us!" Gaara pushed Kiba back and gestured to his bare torso. "Look at  _you_! You know what happens to people like us, Kiba, to people like you. Look at Mikoto. She—"

"I'm going to my room and I'm going to sleep!" Kiba interrupted quickly, springing up from his kneeling position. "I'm fucking tired, and I don't want to hear any goddamn self-pity from you anymore… and  _you_ ," Kiba said loudly, whirling back around to Naruto, "don't judge my boyfriend!"

"I'm not," Naruto defended quickly.

"Good!" Kiba said loudly. "Tomorrow, this will all be over! That's that! I don't want to hear any more about it," Kiba demanded of both Naruto and Gaara.

With that, he turned on his heels, stomped over to the staircase, climbed it, and slammed his bedroom door. Naruto and Gaara watched him go in silence. When the door was closed, Gaara wiped his face of any lingering emotion and looked back at Naruto, clearly feeling uncomfortable. Naruto knew that Gaara was thinking that Naruto  _did_  resent him and was only pretending not to in front of Kiba. That wasn't the case though.

"I'm not judging you, Gaara," Naruto reassured. "I can't imagine what your life is like, so I won't pretend that I have the authority to judge you for living it as you do. Like I said, you're my friend. Nothing changes that, not even this."

"Thank you," Gaara said softly, nodding his head appreciatively and relaxing a tiny bit. "It  _is_  a difficult life."

"Tell me about it?" Naruto asked. "I wanna know."

"Another time," Gaara said as more of a plea. "I'm tired and my boyfriend is mad at me for being rightfully resentful of my actions."

"He just doesn't want to see you struggle," Naruto said.

"I know," Gaara answered quietly, "but it's hard not to when you're living my life." There was a heavy silence that engulfed them before Gaara continued. "I'd like to drive you home but… I don't think I'll be able to stand it," Gaara said, although it clearly pained him to admit this.

"It's fine," Naruto assured, even though he wasn't really sure that it was.

He didn't want to admit his apprehension to Gaara—and he was definitely going to try to be understanding—but the fact remained that Gaara was dangerous and quite a bit scarier now that Naruto knew what he knew. He hated the fact that he was eager to be away from Gaara, but he was eager nonetheless.

"I'll just stay the night," Naruto offered against his better judgement.

"No," Gaara disagreed quickly. "Bad idea. I just mean..." Gaara sighed heavily. "Kiba will be loud tonight, moaning and groaning in pain. At least, until the pain killers kick in. It was a pretty rough bite. I don't think you'll want to hear that. Plus, if I can't be in the car with you, you probably shouldn't be sleeping in my guest room either, should you?"

"No," Naruto agreed quietly, trying to sound calm. Truthfully, the words made his heart rate double. Gaara was admitting that he could hardly resist the urge to attack Naruto, and that made Naruto feel sick to the stomach. Gaara was giving him reason to be apprehensive and scared.

"I'll call a cab," Naruto offered, barely above a whisper. Gaara stood from his seat and his eyes began to darken significantly. Naruto vaguely wondered if Gaara could sense how fast his heart was beating.

"There's a big chance you'll be risking your life doing that in this part of town," Gaara warned.

Naruto wanted to refute. He wanted to argue that this part of town was absolutely flawless. Who would hurt him here? He couldn't find his voice though. Gaara pointed at the elevator.

"Suite three. You can sleep in there. Once you get inside, lock it up. There will be a button on your left in the kitchen to keep it blocked off. Kiba is the only one who knows the password. Don't open it, no matter who tells you to. The only person I want you to trust is Kiba. Don't even let the maids in," Gaara warned sternly, his eyes darkening even more, "and especially not me." Naruto nodded slowly in return.

Gaara repeated, "Suite three."

Naruto sat mesmerized for a moment, letting the instructions sink in as his mind was feeling rather sluggish at the moment. Once they did, though, he popped up off of the couch and crossed to the elevator, pressing the button to summon it. Gaara didn't move from his spot by the chair, but still watched Naruto closely. The elevator dinged and the doors opened automatically, but Naruto hesitated a moment.

"Good night, Gaara," Naruto said quietly.

Gaara made no sign of recognition though. In fact, it didn't even feel like Naruto was looking at Gaara at all anymore. He had taken on a different energy and this unnerved Naruto, so he stepped quickly into the elevator. He hovered his finger over the button as he took one last glance at his friend. Gaara's lip twitched and his eyes narrowed, prompting Naruto to punch the button urgently. Naruto swallowed hard and feared that simple action would trigger Gaara again. The elevator doors slid shut and dinged only moments later, opening up behind him. Naruto turned around confusedly. Then, there was a loud bang against the doors that had just closed which caused Naruto to jump out of the elevator swiftly. He had definitely just triggered Gaara.

He fumbled around in the dark for the button Gaara spoke of. The doors were closing and Naruto was panicking. He couldn't find the button and, at any moment, the doors would open for Gaara to usher him right to Naruto. His hands began to tremble when he heard a muffled ding. Searching ever more frantically along the wall for the button, Naruto realized that he was on the wrong side of the elevator. He jumped across to the other side of the doors and found the button immediately. He slammed it and heard what sounded like heavy, metal locks click into place behind the elevator door. He waited for the elevator to ding and not open, infuriating Gaara, but the ding never came. After a few very long, tense moments, Naruto decided that Gaara must not have gotten in the elevator. There was no disappointed hissing or growling coming from the shaft. There was no loud bang against his doors. There was only silence. Gaara must have gone to bed.

Suddenly, a thought struck him. Kiba was in there with Gaara. What would Gaara do to him? Naruto stared down at what he could see of the lock button in the darkness, contemplating his urge to click it and bring Kiba in suite three with him. After a long moment, he released a shaky breath and decided that Kiba would be fine. After all, he had been living with Gaara for most of his life. Feeling uneasy nonetheless, Naruto stood and tried to comfort himself at the elevator doors for a few long minutes before he could tear himself from that spot. He, eventually, made his way up a staircase and collapsed on the first bed that he found. He felt the weight of the night's events roll off of his shoulders. With a deep sigh and, thankfully, a blank mind, he fell asleep.

_To be continued..._


	6. Ren

Naruto rolled over lazily in his bed and inhaled deeply. He scrunched up his nose in confusion. Did he smell bacon? Who was in his apartment making bacon? It couldn't be Jiraiya. But then again, it could  _only_  be Jiraiya. It could, of course, be Gaara having used his vampire abilities, whatever they were, to sneak in and make Naruto I'm-sorry-for-trying-to-eat-you-and-scaring-the-shit-out-of-you-last-night bacon. Naruto rolled around a few more times before sitting up slowly in the bed. He rubbed his eyes and opened them.

"The fuck?" he questioned quietly as he looked around the dark room. It wasn't his bedroom.

Naruto clambered out of the foreign bed and rammed his knee into the bedside table. He cursed quietly as he rubbed it tentatively. He heard bacon sizzling in a pan and grew more curious. He looked around the unfamiliar room and found the door. When he opened it, he cowered immediately at the brightness beyond. It was forgivingly dark in the bedroom. He realized he was still wearing his clothes from last night as he braved the sunlit hallway.

When he was able to open his eyes better, he found that he was standing in front of a banister looking out over what looked just like Kiba and Gaara's suite, except for the large corner desk in place of the bar. Then, he remembered that he had taken the elevator to a vacant suite last night or... well, he wasn't sure if he'd actually taken the elevator anywhere. He just stepped in and walked out the other end. He didn't care to analyze the elevator system of this building just now, however. He was glad to see Kiba standing at the stove, cooking breakfast and singing to himself.

Naruto smiled and began to descend the spiral staircase. He meandered slowly across the suite to Kiba, whose back was turned. He sat down at the island in the middle of the kitchen and simply watched his friend. He watched how Kiba's body bounced to whatever beat was in his head. He listened to Kiba's voice sounding bright and cheerful. He suppressed a laugh when Kiba threw his head back and belted out a line of some song Naruto didn't know and Kiba shook his hips amusingly.

"Kiba?" Naruto finally said as he smiled at the back of the brunet's head.

"Hey!" Kiba sang, as if he wasn't even shocked that Naruto was sitting there. "I hope you like bacon because I love it… and it's the only thing that we have in this fridge," he added. "We use this fridge as our meat storage. Y'know, don't wanna have too many tempting things in the suite. Just in case he gets rowdy," Kiba rambled on. "A bunch of bloody meat isn't gonna help calm him down. I meant to bring eggs over but someone was really grumpy when I woke up. I was eager to give him space."

Kiba's voice was light and unconcerned, but Naruto felt anxiety rise up in his own chest. He remembered  _why_  he'd had to sleep in this suite last night. Gaara was threatening his life only after having threatened Kiba's too. Kiba had also just said that Gaara woke up grumpy and that concerned Naruto. Was Gaara still in a frenzy? Kiba seemed to sense Naruto's concerns.

"It always takes him a while to cool down after... well, y'know. Last night was pretty intense. I won't be surprised if he takes a whole day to get himself together," said Kiba, still cooking the bacon with his back turned.

"How long does it normally take?" Naruto asked.

"Well, that depends on the situation, really. If he's just having a bite, it takes an hour or two. If he hasn't had one in a while, it takes a couple more hours. I find that if the situation is a bit… heated… it takes hardly a few minutes," Kiba explained.

"Heated?" Naruto questioned and Kiba laughed a laugh that left genuine delight lingering in the air.

"Yeah, you know… if we're… in the bedroom," Kiba divulged slowly.

"Oh!" Naruto exclaimed quickly. "You do that in there?"

Kiba snickered again, sounding like a schoolgirl. "Yeah, well, you wouldn't understand, would you? It's not like being attacked by an animal every night. He's really gentle. It can feel really good actually." Naruto felt like he should be blushing at this very personal information, but he wasn't. In fact, he felt so comfortable with Kiba that he'd probably talk about his own sexual desires with him. "When you mix the thirst with being horny, it does some weird shit. It makes him wanna bite me more and in the strangest places too, but afterwards he composes himself really fast. It only takes a few minutes at most. It's probably just because he can relieve a lot more tension in those kinds of situations," Kiba mused casually.

"Sounds logical," Naruto agreed just as casually. He wasn't sure when Gaara being a vampire and talking about his sex life with Kiba became casual conversation, but he wasn't fighting it.

"He hasn't had a go at me for two days though," Kiba went on. "A couple of nights ago, he lost his control the first time, but he never actually bit me. He  _did_  start talking the same way he was last night though. He said that I couldn't stop him, that I was his and he could do whatever he wanted with me. It really freaked me out, so I yelled at him until he came to his senses. I tried to convince him to just have one bite to make him feel better, but he kept refusing." Kiba's voice was now quiet and significantly subdued, void of the lightness it'd just been holding.

"He was too afraid to bite me. Said that he didn't deserve me after having spoken to me like that. I insisted on getting him supplements but he refuses to let me out of the house without him by my side, so he was trying to suppress two days worth of bloodlust last night. I wasn't surprised when he lost it in the bathroom," Kiba admitted, turning around and tipping the bacon onto a plate on the island. He rounded the structure and sat on a stool beside Naruto, fidgeting compulsively with the hem of his shirt as he stared at his fingers. "I've never seen him like that," he said quietly. "I didn't even think it was possible."

"Of course not," Naruto said softly, touching Kiba's shoulder in an attempt at comfort. "How could you have known he was capable of such things after years of him being so seemingly… trained?"

"Don't talk about him as if he's a dog!" Kiba snapped quickly, recoiling from Naruto and looking at him with an expression of aberration.

"I'm sorry!" Naruto said quickly. "That's not what I meant."

After a long moment, Kiba nodded curtly. Naruto couldn't relax though. He was struggling to find the right words to express his curiosities. Kiba was suffering over Gaara, but all Naruto could think about were the questions he'd been dying to ask Gaara. It would be really hard to not sound insensitive right now, but damn he wanted answers!

"You're curious, I know," Kiba said wearily. "If you're gonna bombard me, we might as well get comfortable." With that, he grabbed the plate of bacon and walked over to the big couch in the living room, setting the bacon down on the coffee table and grabbing a piece. "Just ask whatever you want," he permitted, sinking back into the cushion of the couch and biting his bacon.

"How do you become a vampire?" Naruto asked eagerly, sitting down beside Kiba and grabbing a piece of bacon too. Though, he didn't relax as much as Kiba's tired body managed to.

Kiba glanced over at Naruto skeptically. "Interested in making the change?"

"No!" Naruto said quickly. "No way. Just curious."

"Gaara was born one," Kiba said plainly, turning his attention back to his bacon and speaking with a mouthful. "Otherwise, you're bitten. I thought that would be pretty obvious."

"But you're bitten all the time and you're not a vampire," Naruto argued.

"True. Something to do with the chocolate counteracts the venom though," said Kiba.

"Right. You said that last night," Naruto acknowledged. "But why doesn't everyone just do that then? Problem solved."

"Some people actually  _want_  to change y'know," Kiba said, reaching for more bacon. "Some people enjoy life as a nightwalker," he added, the tone of his voice more conversational than expected when discussing such an obscure subject. "Some people think it's the only way to be with a vampire. Some people are just stupid and think it'll be fun. If you think about it, though, Naruto, if you've been drained of almost all your blood and are weak or unconscious, how are you going to get chocolate? What if you don't even know that chocolate will help?

"Most of the population doesn't even know that vampires exist, let alone how to protect themselves from one. It's different depending on how severe the bite is, but it usually only takes about a couple hours to change completely and the bulk of it is spent unconscious. There's a very small window to fight it. Plus, chocolate is just for weak bites. If someone bites you with the intent to change you, they're injecting venom into you purposely and lots of it. Chocolate won't save you from that. You'd have to get the venom out another way."

"How do you do that?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Well, VSAF has created an anti-venom. People can carry that around for safety, but I've heard of unstable vamps with good intentions just injecting themselves with it. If the changing process is never triggered, then the venom will stay in their system for a while. After that, I guess they just inject themselves again. That way if they attack anyone, it's immediately negated," Kiba conjectured.

"Wait, anti-venom isn't  _dangerous_  to vampires? It doesn't hurt them?" Naruto asked.

"No, venom goes through a sort of changing process when it travels between bodies," Kiba said.

"Explain," Naruto insisted simply.

"I mean, to be scientific, the properties of the venom change when it meets another being's blood," Kiba began. "That's why vampires are fine but others aren't once they're infected. It makes any living being weak, sick, tired. That kind of stuff makes us easier to subdue. It makes it really hard to fight back because our strength is drained quickly. Living with a vamp, I've learned early on not to fight if I'm in a sticky situation. You'll pass out real quick if you move too much. It makes the venom spread faster.

"Anti-venom targets the specific markers that only appear once the venom starts working to change you, so vamps can inject themselves with it and be fine. That is until they bite someone. When the anti-venom is triggered, it's not  _harmful_  to a vampire but it's not exactly a nice sensation either. That's why Gaara and I don't use it. Once the anti-venom begins counteracting, it's agonizing from what I've seen. I guess that's just to make sure that you don't  _want_  to bite anymore, and I suppose it works pretty well that way. That kind of pain would make anyone want to detach right away," Kiba explained.

"You and Gaara don't use anti-venom?" Naruto asked, admittedly shocked at their trust in each other.

"Mhm," Kiba hummed nonchalantly.

"Then how are you still human?" Naruto asked.

Kiba rolled his eyes, smiling at Naruto's ignorance. "I told you. Chocolate."

"You're never worried that the venom will spread before you can get to chocolate?" Naruto asked.

"Not at all."

"Or that the chocolate won't be enough?" Naruto added.

"Nope," Kiba insisted. "Like I said, when Gaara bites, he's gentle. Those shallow bites wouldn't start to affect me for a long time. Last night, though, he bit me pretty badly. He'd never  _want_  to change me, but in that state of mind it's instinct alone that would cause him to inject so much venom into me at once. Being pinned against the wall helped slow it up a bit by keeping me from moving, but as soon as we started going to the couch, I felt myself slipping away. I was actually pretty worried, but you brought me the chocolate, so I was fine."

"But you said chocolate doesn't work for serious bites," said Naruto. "Was that bite not serious?"

"Pfft." Kiba snorted. "That bite was serious," he assured, "but we buy chocolate laced with anti-venom because Gaara insists. Plus," He wagged his piece of bacon at Naruto, "it's not like venom just pours out of his fangs like a waterfall. Venom injection  _is_  voluntary."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Not everyone is as knowledgeable as you."

"I know, you're just ignorant," Kiba conceded.

"Yeah, so don't patronize," Naruto replied.

Kiba smiled and simply went on. "A vamp doesn't have to inject it every time they bite. It takes a bit of concentration to not release any venom at all, so a little bit usually always escapes, but it's no difficult feat to severely reduce the amount of venom injected. It's a skill that takes time to learn, as I've come to realize, but Gaara is damn good at it. He could bite me all night and never do any damage, and he has." Kiba paused to smile somewhat salaciously in reverence. Naruto playfully pushed his arm and brought him back to the present though. Kiba smirked and asked, "Huh? Where was I?"

Naruto rolled his eyes, knowing Kiba to be simply keeping the mood light. "Gaara hardly ever injects a lot of venom."

"Ah, right. I'd probably be fine eating just normal chocolate," Kiba mused. "But, like I said, Gaara insists on the anti-venom kind. I always thought it was a stupid idea, to be honest. I never once thought that we'd need anything with anti-venom, but I guess I should thank Gaara for being paranoid." Kiba paused, the spring-like pep to him dissipating slightly. "It saved my life last night," he acknowledged quietly.

"Where do you get that kind of stuff?" Naruto asked, eager to keep Kiba talking instead of dwelling on the difficult.

"Vamp markets," Kiba answered, easing back into a casual attitude. "You can get lots of stuff there. Other products laced with anti-venom, pure anti-venom itself, supplemental blood, pure blood," he listed before Naruto cut in.

"Pure blood?"

Kiba nodded. "You can't get it at any  _legal_  market, but most underground markets aren't legal. They sell human and animal blood for convenience to anyone willing to buy. The slaughter of any being to harvest and sell their blood  _is_  against VSAF law, but the shady vamps don't really care I guess. Just like the black market, they don't care about a lot of the laws," Kiba replied.

"Laws? I thought VSAF wasn't official," Naruto said.

"It's not, but they still have laws that they enforce. Just because they haven't been voted into power or whatever doesn't mean that they'll stop fighting for what's right," Kiba answered. "Reasonable, right?"

"Sure," Naruto agreed. "I'm interested in what kind of laws are made for vampires."

"Not much," Kiba admitted. "Like I said, there's the fact that harvesting and selling pure blood of any kind is illegal. Also, changing a child that's not your own or orphaning a vampire child are the other two laws that have a no-nonsense policy. No warnings for that stuff, only punishment. Hunting humans and attacking endangered animals or animals otherwise protected by human law is also illegal. As I said before though, VSAF is pretty unobtrusive. They'll let you do your thing as long as you don't go crazy. If you make a few unlawful kills, they're understanding. Last time I checked, the rule was that getting five warnings in your lifetime or two consecutive warnings within a year will get you the punishment of death. They don't play around. There's no vampire prison. Act out and they'll just kill you."

Naruto felt a slight shiver roll down his spine. These guys sounded pretty ruthless. He figured that he had nothing to worry about though. He was human, after all. He was exactly what VSAF was trying to protect.

"There's also a law about infecting people," Kiba went on. "Knowingly infecting someone and refusing to either kill or provide them with a cure is illegal. So if you infect someone, you've pretty much earned yourself a warning, if not death."

"I thought the point of the law against hunting was  _not_  to kill people," Naruto pointed out. "And how do you  _accidentally_  infect someone?"

"Another major point of all the laws is to keep the vampire population under control. If they can't be saved, I guess VSAF would rather you just kill a person rather than change them. And, y'know, Children don't understand what they're doing right away. Think about how fair it would be to give a warning to a three year old," Kiba countered. "People are expected to educate their children, but there's no specific time in which you can  _make_  a child understand their lifestyle."

"Good point," Naruto agreed.

"And, by the way, hunting means biting. It doesn't matter if you kill a person or not," Kiba added. "If you bite, you're hunting. If it's consensual, however, then you're exempt from the law. Plus, infecting someone  _is_  killing them."

"How so?" Naruto asked.

"The way the venom reacts to your body," Kiba said simply, expecting that to be explanation enough. He'd already said a lot. Naruto must be tired of listening already.

Naruto was eager though. "How's that?" Naruto asked.

"Well, like I said, the properties of the venom change. It becomes more than  _just_  disabling. It becomes destructive, destroying pure blood and infecting it," Kiba explained. "Whatever blood is left in your body will be targeted. The more blood that's drained from you, the quicker the process of changing goes. The venom infects whatever blood cells haven't been sucked out and changes them. Once all of the blood is infected, it multiplies until the body has been replenished. It's hard for vampires to suffer blood loss because they're blood cells are naturally regenerative. It's not impossible, just hard." Kiba was about to get to the part about changing being the same as dying when Naruto eagerly cut in.

"If it's destructive, how does venom  _not_  kill you?"

Kiba smiled. "That's what I'm getting to. It does kill you. When you change, you do die. Once all of the blood cells have been infected, the heart stops. While the blood is multiplying, you're dead. Only once all of the blood cells have been replenished does the heart start again. When it does, there is a disabling thirst for blood. It's because they don't have any pure blood left that vampires crave it. The body never gets used to that change. That's why vampires drink blood, more or less. The thirst is their body's way of trying to replace the infected blood with pure blood. Drinking blood doesn't help, of course, but the body doesn't know that. After a good meal, the mind is temporarily tricked into thinking it's been healed.

"Thirst is really just a never-ending longing to be normal again, if you think about it. Most vampires are content to look at it from a different perspective though. Scientifically, that's what happens. A lot of vampires would argue that they just like the taste and that's all. Of course, that  _is_  part of it. Blood does smell and taste better, from what I've witnessed. It's even been proven to be linked to a feeling of euphoria," Kiba added. When Naruto raised an uncertain brow, Kiba went on in simpler terms. "In other words, the smell can pretty much make you high and the taste can pretty much get you drunk."

"Yeah, I get it," Naruto assured. "I just don't think it makes much sense."

"What about vampires makes sense to begin with?" Kiba countered.

Naruto chuckled lightly and nodded in defeat. "Touche." After a moment, he conceded, "I guess I can understand a bit more easily now. It would be pretty damn difficult to not indulge in the sweetest, tastiest, most intoxicating thing on earth to a person."

"That's why the laws are so lax," Kiba added. "At the same time though, VSAF is pretty serious about going around and infecting people. The last thing the world needs is more uncontrollable vamps roaming the streets, murdering people left and right. Infection is only lawful if done consensually."

"Are the only ways to stop from changing to be bled dry or to use anti-venom?" Naruto asked.

"Well, there is the part where you have to drink the blood of the vampire who changed you to change permanently," he admitted. "But if you don't, you just won't become a true vampire. That means you'll live an at least somewhat normal life cycle, as long as you remember to feed your body real food and water and not just blood, and then you'll just die like normal."

"Uh, that's kind of an important thing to lead with, don't you think?" Naruto pointed out.

Kiba shrugged. "Doesn't stop you from changing in the moment. Whether you become a full vampire or not, being infected by a vampire will turn you into a creature that craves blood. Drinking the vampire blood just decides whether or not you'll live or die is all."

"Okay, is there any  _other_  method to avoid changing in the moment?" Naruto asked.

"You can suck the venom out too. I've seen Itachi do it when someone brought an unsuspecting girl into Akatsake once and she was bitten and left unattended to. Ita is really in control of his urges, so he sucked the venom out and made sure she got some chocolate in her system," Kiba explained. "Ever since then, he's enforced his rules more relentlessly than ever. By no means can anyone bring in unsuspecting victims. The only humans allowed in Akatsake are those who know what they're getting into. That means people who are aware of the vampire population, which are people like me, people who are feeders and are certainly protected by their vamps too. And also people who bring in their own defensive measures, the kind of people looking to get bitten for pleasure. Ita doesn't mind it if a few humans wanna prance around his bar and offer their veins to a few vamps, as long as they leave his bar alive and human in the end," Kiba explained.

"What about me then?" Naruto asked. "I was none of that."

"Yeah, but you were brought in with me. Ita trusted that I wasn't bringing in unsuspecting prey. I was though. I almost got you bitten that night. I never thought about the fact that you could be in danger. I was absolutely mindless. It was stupid," Kiba admitted.

Naruto remembered his first night in Akatsake. "Akatsake isn't a gay bar," he noted more to himself than to Kiba.

Kiba laughed. "Very vigilant." Naruto playfully shoved him in the arm again, still thankful for the brunet's consistency with keeping the air around them light. "It's a vamp bar," Kiba confirmed. "Good thing you had the sense to knock Sai off you. It's not like Ita doesn't have defensive measures. We would've been able to save you, but we wouldn't know how to explain to you that you were sitting in a room full of vampires, most of which were probably just dying to get a taste of you," Kiba said meekly. "I panicked when Sai tried to bite you. I only then realized what position I'd really put you in. I should've known better when you said that you didn't know Akatsake. It's the biggest vamp bar in the area. If you knew about vamps, you'd have known Akatsake. I just wasn't thinking clearly. I was too excited about the stupid painting."

"So the tradition at Akatsake is…" Naruto paused, prompting Kiba to finish his sentence.

"Offering yourself to be claimed," Kiba finished. "Vampires like to claim mates, much like animals, not that they  _are_  animals," Kiba added, giving Naruto a look that just dared him to compare his precious Gaara to a beast. Naruto would do no such thing though. "Most people go to Akatsake looking to be a feeder," Kiba went on. "Sometimes they're looking for multiple vamps, sometimes just one. I was never subjected to tradition because I had a very protective vampire who had already claimed me and everyone was too afraid to ever try to get at me under Gaara's nose. You, however, came in unprotected. They knew immediately that you were up for grabs, so the game was on.

"The crowd at Akatsake is pretty decent. Some of them are scumbags, but for the lives that they lead, they're pretty good people. They tend to follow Ita's rules, and he made a rule after the incident with that girl that no one was to claim any unmarked human in his bar without his permission. It seems he was on his game that night, even if I wasn't, because he didn't give anyone permission to bite you. As I said, the crowd is pretty decent, so they're respectful. They don't really mind  _who_  gets to claim the human, as long as  _someone_ does _._  They like their tradition. Usually, Itachi talks to every newcomer to be sure what they expect, so he can make sure nothing gets out of hand. Like I said though, we mostly get sluts who  _want_  things to get out of hand. As long as no one dies or is changed unwillingly, Ita doesn't really care.

"Everyone was eyeing you though, but I was too distracted to notice. You meant nothing to Gaara at the time, so he didn't care that there was a room full of vamps behind your back scheming to claim you, and Sasuke is Sasuke. I mean, we just found out  _that night_  that he was leeching. I doubt he gave a shit about your life. In any case, Ita must have been feeling extra cautious with you because I hadn't spoken to him about you before you just showed up. Again, I was mindless. Ita is smart though, so even though I was stupid he hatched a plan.

"Deidara," Naruto recognized, and Kiba nodded. "Deidara can be trusted because of his relationship with Itachi."

"Personally, I think he was kinda thrilled at the idea of getting to bite a human again too," Kiba added. "But the plan was that he'd claim you and make it clear that no one was to touch you. Then the rest of the vamps would stop leering at you at least. Ita would've, of course, given you something to counteract the venom right away," Kiba explained. "Unfortunately, we'd still have to explain to you what had happened, but it was better than throwing you to the wolves."

"Well, that didn't go as planned," Naruto joked.

"No, it didn't," Kiba agreed, finding enough mirth in the situation to at least chuckle lightly. "And when you came out unscathed and still oblivious," he went on, "we decided to just keep it a secret. We didn't know how to tell you."

"I don't understand why Itachi didn't just say no," Naruto said. "Why did someone  _have_  to claim me?"

"Well, decent only goes so far. Like I said, they like their tradition there. Someone was going to claim you that night, whether Ita wanted them to or not. If he denied them their precious tradition, they might have just killed him for being so stingy. A lot of underground vamps still hold to old-fashioned values and think that humans are just pets waiting to be claimed. Even if they themselves can't have you,  _someone_  should. That's why Ita won't just negate the tradition. There was a time when he liked the tradition himself. That's why he allowed it to ever start to begin with.

"In due time, though, he grew out of that, but it wasn't a bother to let it go on. Everyone that came was willing anyway. Why stop something that everyone enjoyed so much? There hasn't been an issue since that girl, up until you. You're the first human to come in and leave unmarked. You're only the second one to walk into Akatsake and  _not_  know where you were, thanks to me," Kiba said.

Naruto nodded his head in understanding, as he had done throughout the whole explanation. "I get it," he said. "Don't feel bad though. It's not like you were trying to get me in trouble. It just happened. But I'm fine, aren't I?" Kiba smiled at that and nodded. "But, y'know, how am I fine? If the tradition is so dear to them, why did I leave unmarked?"

"Well," Kiba began, "they would have to be pushed to  _really_  fuck with Ita. I'll bet he could take on half of the bar on his own. If they wanted to organize it, they could take him down. But why would they want to? Kill him and the bar is shut down. They don't  _want_  to hurt Ita, but Ita recognizes that they  _could_  if they really wanted to. Because he doesn't want the trouble, he avoids pissing the crowd off too much. At the same time, to avoid their own trouble, the crowd avoids pissing Ita off too much too. They also avoid pissing Sasuke off and, as far they know now, you're Sasuke's."

"No I'm not," Naruto said confusedly.

"No, you're not," Kiba agreed, "but that's what Itachi told everyone anyway. No one wants to go against an Uchiha if they can avoid it. So if they think that you're Sasuke's, whether he's actually bitten you or not, they'll leave you alone. That was Ita's quick thinking after he kicked Sai out. To please his unhappy patrons, he told them that you were Sasuke's and Sai was acting out of line. They were placated enough."

Naruto's lips curled in disgust at the mention of Sai. "I know," Kiba said, shaking his head. "Sai's greedy ass couldn't help but take control when Dei tried to initiate the plan. I'll bet he was just dying to teach Sasuke a lesson."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, bemused.

"Well, I already told you. I think Sasuke liked you, and that would've made Sai angry. Instead of wanting to feed on you, I think Sasuke wanted to befriend you. Sai is a devout nightwalker. We only found out  _that_  night that Sasuke was hunting with him too, but  _because_  Sai is a nightwalker, seeing Sasuke warm up to a human would've been sickening. Not to mention, he'd be jealous. He seems to think that Sasuke is his play thing. You'd make that difficult, wouldn't you? I'll bet Sai wanted to claim you and dangle you in front of Sasuke's nose," Kiba said scornfully. "Sai is sick."

"You think Sasuke liked me  _that_  much?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

Kiba shrugged his shoulders. "I think Sasuke needs someone like you and even he can see it," he said. "Y'know, I think Sai would've made Sasuke feed on you too," he added on a side note. "He probably would've made you some bedtime toy. He's sick, but not stupid though. Once he saw that you  _didn't_  know what kind of place you were in, he backed off. He wasn't dumb enough to attack an unsuspecting human right in front of both Ita  _and_  Gaara, not with their families' power. With  _his_  family's history, he'd have been in deep shit with VSAF had he bitten you that night."

"What do you mean? What kind of power do Gaara and Itachi have?" Naruto asked.

" _They_  don't have any power. It's their names that do. Fugaku Uchiha and Ryuu Sundama both work for VSAF. If you try any funny business right under the noses of their sons, you're just stupid," Kiba informed.

"The family business?" Naruto asked.

Kiba nodded. "Yep."

"So why don't they just report Sai and get rid of him if they hate him so much?" Naruto asked, but Kiba snorted.

"They're not narks, Naruto. Like Sasuke said last night, everyone is a leech. There's some truth to that. They don't get in other people's business if they don't have to. Not to mention, selling Sai out would be selling Sasuke out too, and then nothing would even change. Fugaku wouldn't publicize that his own son is a known nightwalker. He wouldn't want to have to give Sasuke a warning. He'd have to let Sai off the hook too then. So, really, it wouldn't make any difference. Plus, like I said, they're not snitches. There's no point in being known as one either, or else you'll be targeted and it doesn't matter who your dad is then," Kiba explained.

Naruto nodded pensively. "So that would explain your nice suite."

Kiba smiled. "Yeah, Gaara's family is loaded. Because of VSAF Sasuke, Gaara, Itachi, Temari, and Kankuro were all offered these types of living arrangements. Ita opted to go with the bar instead, and his father made it a point to not complain."

"Where does Sasuke live then?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Here," Kiba said simply. Naruto perked up significantly.

' _Sasuke lives here?_ ' Naruto thought to himself excitedly.' _Where?_ '

Kiba saw this reaction and corrected himself quickly. "This is his suite, but he doesn't actually live here. He refuses to accept this place. This whole gated compound is dedicated to vampire living quarters. He doesn't like that, so he has his own apartment." Kiba watched Naruto's mind actively ponder about Sasuke and he decided to change the subject. "Everyone in Gaara's family has worked for VSAF. Gaara is actually the first to break the trend," Kiba said.

"That reminds me!" Naruto exclaimed. "How can he be  _born_  a vampire?"

"Vampires aren't a far cry from humans. Well, for the most part. Aging goes along quite nicer and they are sorta immortal. They reach a peak in their mid-20s and then just... you know... smooth sailing from there until something kills em. They have to eat and drink like us, though they can survive without food or water much longer than humans. It'd take you and I a couple weeks to starve to death, but it'd take them a couple months. They don't  _have_  to drink blood, but a steady diet of it can replace food and water for quite a while. They have to sleep. They have a reflection. They like beds and not coffins. Gaara is actually terrified of bats," Kiba was going on dramatically.

"I get it," Naruto said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, anyway, they can have babies too. Pair a vamp with a vamp and you get another vamp. Pair a vamp with a human and you get another human. Gaara's parents are both vampires. Everyone in his family is a vampire actually. Temari and Kankuro both plan on joining VSAF in line with their family's wishes," Kiba explained.

"Why not Gaara?"

"Gaara wants to be an artist. That's why he wants to go to university. The reason he doesn't want to join VSAF is because, well, he doesn't get along with Ryuu very well. His dad would rather he didn't join, to be honest," Kiba said quietly, clearly feeling Gaara's sadness for himself.

"Is it because of you?" Naruto asked quietly.

"Yeah," Kiba murmured, averting his gaze.

"Well, Ryuu isn't much of a father if he can't accept his own son," Naruto said firmly.

"It's more complicated than that. This is going against everything they believe. I can understand," Kiba said.

"What?!" Naruto exclaimed, causing Kiba to snap his eyes back up and jump in his seat. "How can you defend them?!"

"Why are you so riled up about it?" Kiba asked confusedly.

"Homophobes are homophobes, whether they're humans or not!" Naruto exclaimed indignantly.

Kiba laughed loudly, thankful for the bolster to his mood. "No," he assured, "that's not it, Naruto. It's because I'm  _human_." A look of understanding came over Naruto's face. "They don't believe in feeding on humans whatsoever. Gaara feeding on me is an outrage to them. It is to his parents, at least. His siblings are a bit more forgiving."

"Sasuke must have been raised with Ryuu then, because he's got the same narrow-minded ideas," Naruto said lightly.

"Eh, not far from the truth," Kiba said. "Gaara and Sasuke grew up together. I'd say the parenting was done by both fathers for all of us."

"All of you? You never did tell me how you all met," Naruto pointed out. He was wondering what Kiba would mean by 'all of us'. Was he adopted into the family or something? Is that how he became so close with Gaara?

Kiba stared at the coffee table in front of them for a long moment before speaking again. "Sasuke is my stepbrother."

"What?" Naruto asked incredulously. "Are you kidding?"

Kiba shook his head and then there was a ding from the elevator. Naruto jumped up, his heart thumping wildly in his chest. Kiba remained calm and sitting though.

"He can't get in, right? He's stuck out, right? We're safe… right?" When Kiba didn't answer, Naruto turned to him with concerned eyes. "Right?"

"Kiba!" someone shouted from the elevator. "Hurry up before this thing takes me away!" Kiba sprung into actions and hurried over to the elevator as the voice beckoned him, and Naruto protested in his wake.

"Kiba! Don't! What are you doing?!" Naruto shouted.

"It's not Gaara," Kiba said shortly, waving a dismissive hand at Naruto as he pushed the lock button beside the elevator.

The heavy, metal locks receded and the elevator doors opened. Out strode a tall man with dark, shaggy hair. He had equally dark, imploring eyes that were studying Naruto carefully. After a short moment, the elevator doors slid shut and the man finally spoke. He turned from Naruto to regard Kiba.

"Across the hall?" he asked softly, his rigidity melting when he regarded the brunet.

Kiba nodded, walking back to Naruto. "He's probably tearing the place apart." The stranger followed Kiba and watched Naruto with hard eyes. Kiba sat back down on the couch, but the stranger and Naruto stood staring at each other. "This is Naruto, Kuru," said Kiba. "Naruto, this is Kankuro." Kankuro stretched out his hand to be shaken and relaxed with a smile. It seemed that he recognized Naruto's name, even though Naruto didn't recognize him at all. Naruto shook his hand nonetheless, to be polite.

"I'm Gaara's brother," Kankuro explained after a long moment of Naruto's palpable confusion.

"Oh~" Naruto nodded in acknowledgement.

Kankuro sat on the couch beside Kiba and Naruto decided to do the same. "I tried your suite first but it was locked up. I just wanted to be sure he was in. You should've called me last night."

"Yeah, I know." Kiba sighed and went on, choosing to ignore his faux pas. "I say give him time. He'll come over when he's ready," he said with a shrug.

"You want him over here?" Kankuro asked uncertainly.

"When he's ready, I do," Kiba answered flatly. "I do  _like_  him, Kuru, in case you hadn't noticed." Kankuro laughed and Naruto found that relaxing.

"I'll be able to keep him in check anyway," Kankuro reassured, relaxing back into the sofa.

An awkward silence bloomed momentarily before Kiba cleared his throat and looked to Naruto. "What was I saying?"

"Oh, uh, you were telling me that Sasuke is your stepbrother, and I was being absolutely shocked."

"Right," Kiba said, nodding and pressing his lips into a thin line. It was growing increasingly difficult for him to keep the atmosphere from growing too heavy. "My father left my mother before I was born. She met Fugaku a couple years later and they got married. When she met him, he was against the idea of feeding on humans completely, but she convinced him to abandon that idea by saying he was a danger to the kids if he didn't, so then she became his feeder. And that's our family."

"What about Sasuke's real mom?" Naruto asked curiously.

"She was Fugaku's feeder too, but he lost control one day and… well… she died," Kiba said sadly.

"Feeder?" Naruto asked. "Then, she was human? How is Sasuke not?"

"That's  _why_  she lost her life. I think time makes people weary, Naruto. Why else would Gaara have changed so abruptly? How else could he have gone from gentle to... this? From what I've heard, Mikoto was weak from Sasuke's birth, so she wasn't able to feed Fugaku. I suppose the stress of a sick wife, a relentless urge to feed, a constantly crying baby, and a constantly nagging five year old was too much for Fugaku. He couldn't go out and buy supplements because he was too busy being a dad and he didn't dare hunt, as if he'd had the time. One night, he just lost his mind and… well… he bit Sasuke."

"What?" Naruto barely whispered. He couldn't believe his ears.

"Mikoto found Fugaku in a frenzied mess, so she offered herself. Y'know, to save her son. In the end, Fugaku couldn't stop himself. He drained every last drop of blood from her. As if that wasn't bad enough, Itachi saw the whole thing happen. He says Fugaku would've rounded on him too had Sasuke not interrupted with his crying. In the time it took for Fugaku to finish Mikoto off, Sasuke had completely changed. Fugaku was somehow brought to his senses and swore off human blood for good..." Kiba trailed off, apparently losing his train of thought.

"About that time was when our families met," Kankuro picked up, patting Kiba's leg sympathetically in comfort. "My father, Ryuu, was sent to Fugaku to issue him an official warning. I've heard the story many times as justification for why the business is so important and why I shouldn't hesitate to join. Seeing the mess that Fugaku was, having just changed his infant child and scarred his five year old for life, Ryuu took pity on him. They became good friends and Fugaku was recruited into VSAF too. He turned his life around and our families became forever joined as one unit. A couple years later, he met Tsume." Kankuro felt Kiba's hand touch his own, assuring him that Kiba had regained himself.

"Mom convinced Fugaku to revert back to feeding on her," Kiba carried on. "And the rest is history. Sasuke and Gaara had already been growing up together, but when I was added into the mix, we all just got along."

"Got along?" Kankuro said, laughing. "You guys were inseparable!"

Kiba smiled, conveying true delight. "Yeah, we were pretty close then. Sasuke took to my mom really well. Itachi was different though. He was distant from the day I met him. He was never close to any of us. In any case, we grew up together in that way. Kankuro and Temari were always watching us, trying to keep us out of trouble," Kiba went on, smiling and patting Kankuro's hand again.

"And failing," Kankuro added, patting Kiba's leg and smiling back.

"I guess that's all there is to tell," Kiba said, but Naruto could see that such was not the truth. "I mean, other than the fact that Itachi left the house at sixteen and no one knows where he went to this day. He's never told us, but we've gathered that he changed and met Deidara somewhere along the way because he came back as a vampire with Dei in tow," Kiba added, shrugging nonchalantly.

There was a pause before Naruto asked, perhaps a bit insensitively, "How did you guys go from  _that_  to  _this_?"

It was more of a rhetorical question than anything, and Kiba understood that. While he didn't intend to answer, the question still brought tough memories to the surface. He looked solemnly up at Naruto's eyes, prompting the blond's gaze to meet his.

"Ren," Kiba divulged quietly, his voice full of sadness and his eyes beginning to tear up. He took in a shaky breath and averted his eyes, looking down at his hands for courage.

"Sasuke should say the rest if he wants," Kankuro said softly.

"It's my story too," Kiba said miserably, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Of course," Kankuro said soothingly, "but think of how Sasuke would feel if you gave that information away. You know how it's affected him."

Kiba's lower lip trembled as he croaked out, "And how about how it affected me?"

Kankuro swallowed a lump in his throat, feeling at an end here. He just draped his arm around Kiba's shoulders and rubbed gently.

Kiba paused shortly and then quietly said to Naruto in a tiny voice, "Ask Sasuke then."

Then, he turned and fell into Kankuro's chest, beginning to quietly cry. Kankuro enfolded him into a tight embrace, rubbing his back and murmuring things that Naruto couldn't make out even at his close proximity.

Naruto wasn't sure how long he'd sat there watching the intense exchange. His mind wandered to Sasuke, but he did place a commiserating hand on Kiba's leg for support. He was more interested in Sasuke than ever before now, and he was exceedingly eager to be close to the man. Most importantly, though, he was eager to know who Ren was and how she ruined the relationship between Gaara, Kiba, and Sasuke.

Naruto noted vacantly that school would start up in just another week or so. If he was lucky, he'd have a few classes with Sasuke, those would be times in which he couldn't avoid Naruto. Then, Naruto would understand Sasuke a little bit more.

_To be continued..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here are some links!
> 
> Sasuke's Downstairs Layout:  
> i169.photobucket.com/albums/u226/RainbowsWorthRain/Fic-Related/SasukeMMaptbottomfloor.png
> 
> Sasuke's Upstairs Layout:  
> i169.photobucket.com/albums/u226/RainbowsWorthRain/Fic-Related/SasukeMMaptupperfloor.png
> 
> Studio suites which are below the living suites:  
> i169.photobucket.com/albums/u226/RainbowsWorthRain/Fic-Related/MMArtStudioFloors.png
> 
> General floor plan of floors 19 & 20:  
> i169.photobucket.com/albums/u226/RainbowsWorthRain/Fic-Related/FloorLayouts.png
> 
> The entire expanse of floors 19 & 20 is dedicated to the private suites, accessible only by the private elevators. Floor nineteen is dedicated to only the studio suites which are suites 1 & 2 (below 3 & 4) and suites 5 & 6 (below 7 & 8). Floor twenty is dedicated to the living suites which are suites 3 & 4 and suites 7 & 8\. The people who live in suites 7 & 8 are Kankuro and Temari. Studio suites 5 & 6 are theirs. Obviously, studio suites 1 & 2 are Gaara's and Sasuke's art studios.
> 
> P.S. "VSAF" (Vampires For the Safety of Humankind) was previously known as "The Order", but I changed it. As a street name, people just take the "V" from "Vampires" and the "SAF" from "Safety". Simple, and I like saying it more than "The Order".


	7. An Unlikely Savior

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: There is blood and some weird sexual kind of shit that goes down. I mean, it's odd, but it's nothing to really worry about. If you don't like the idea of blood or it possibly being on someone's tongue and turning things into a strangely sexual encounter, you won't like this.

Naruto watched Kiba absent-mindedly turn his bottle of beer in slow circles on the table. They'd been sitting at Akatsake for over an hour now, waiting for Gaara to show up. Naruto was really starting to feel uneasy too, as there were multitudes of hungry eyes watching them intently. Many of them, certainly, had just been waiting for the day that Gaara would leave Kiba unattended, dying to sink their fangs into the brunet. Naruto was, surely, in no less of a predicament either.

Kiba seemed completely unaware of the stares though. At first, when he'd learned about vampires a week ago, Naruto didn't feel too affected. In all honesty, he was too busy obsessing over Sasuke for the fact that he lived in a world full of people who  _drink human blood_  to sink in. He hadn't made the time to really care that he could literally die at every street corner if he wasn't careful. He felt the gravity of that knowledge finally sinking in though, now that there was no Gaara to obsessively protect them.

Things between Gaara and Kiba had been extremely strained since "that" night. Kiba had to make appointments just to see his boyfriend, if you could even call them boyfriends anymore. More often than not, Gaara simply refused. Now that Kiba had requested their first  _public_  meeting, thinking that Gaara just didn't trust himself in private, Naruto felt like they were two sitting ducks, waiting for someone who was clearly not going to come. Fortunately, Deidara had come to sit with them a short while ago, and he was watching Kiba with as much sympathy as Naruto too. He seemed to have a reputation strong enough to repel almost everyone. Naruto was further reassured as he periodically heard Itachi's protective hisses erupt from behind them, threatening anyone who dared meander too close to the trio.

Since Gaara had decided to take up residence in Sasuke's uninhabited suite across from his own, leaving Kiba completely alone, Naruto took it upon himself to spend most of his time keeping Kiba company. Though, they were hardly ever alone. They were paid regular visits from Kankuro. In fact, he never seemed to leave. If he did, he departed quickly and silently without Naruto or Kiba ever noticing him come or go. Temari kept herself busy by trying to talk to Gaara himself. To no avail though, seeing as Gaara constantly kept the suite locked up in order to ensure his solitude.

Things had taken a real toll on Kiba, who was in a seriously declining state of depression. The first day of classes was in just two days, as if his current stress level wasn't already enough to turn Kiba's brain to mush. If Kiba didn't get himself together, he'd flunk out of university on the first freaking day. Naruto sighed heavily, deciding that it was best to just stop the torture and leave.

"Kiba?" Naruto said tentatively, jolting Kiba out of thought

Kiba looked around sullenly at their surroundings and sighed, prompting Naruto to sigh again himself. Kiba had been lost in more and more of those trances lately, in which he probably dwelt on things that only served to make him more depressed.

"I'm sorry," Kiba said dejectedly, settling his eyes back on his beer.

"It's fine," Naruto assured. "S'not your fault."

"You shouldn't have come. It was a waste," Kiba said quietly. He clenched his fist tightly around the beer that he'd yet to take even a sip from.

"It's fine," Naruto repeated quickly, eager to comfort his best friend in any way that he could. "I'm just worried about you."

"So am I," Deidara piped in. "You've been sulking for days."

"Well, my boyfriend has been  _ditching_  me for days, hasn't he?" Kiba retorted.

"He probably just forgot," Naruto offered, trying to console but not really believing it himself.

It was just that Kiba had grown so close to Naruto so quickly. Naruto adored the brunet. He'd evolved from Naruto's first man-crushy-thingy to Naruto's first  _real_  best friend. Naruto wanted nothing more than to ease his suffering. It seemed, however, that it was a difficult, if not impossible, task.

"No," Kiba denied quietly, "he didn't forget me. That would've been too kind of him. He just left me to the wolves or, rather, leeches, and he knows it. He knows I could be dead right now just because he didn't show up. But, apparently, he doesn't even..." Kiba trailed off when his throat tightened up. He couldn't go on with that sentence. It was painful to admit that Gaara no longer cared for his life.

"He's a bastard then!" Deidara proclaimed.

The boisterous blond reached across the table to touch Kiba's hand in silent sympathy, an action that directly clashed with his let's-just-call-him-what-he-is-and-be-done-with-it attitude. Deidara was, clearly, fed up with the whole situation, and it seemed that his capacity for sympathy only extended so far. He couldn't quite see why the sulking should continue. It was simple. Gaara had proven that he was an asshole. Now, Kiba should move on. All of this in between I-don't-wanna-move-on bullshit just wasn't Dei's way of doing things.

"Don't say that!" Kiba snapped, pulling away from Deidara and resting a disapproving glare on him.

Deidara looked deflated but only slightly apologetic. He wanted Kiba to just  _move on_. He chose to say nothing more though. Instead, he simply settled back into his chair.

After a short moment, Kiba ended up murmuring, "He  _is_  a bastard though."

Deidara simply  _had_  to perk up, letting a satisfied smirk creep across his lips. It wasn't a home-run, but it was a start. Gaara  _was_  being a bastard. Hmph. They had thought Sasuke was a dick. Bah! Gaara was giving Sasuke a real run for his money. Admitting that brought Kiba one step closer to giving Gaara the middle finger and getting over all of this, and that made Deidara a happy vamp.

"Come stay with me for a few days," Naruto offered brightly.

"No," Kiba said. "I'd rather stay home."

"Kiba," Naruto began uncertainly, "you know that place is crawling with vamps who'd jump at the chance to bite you. You can't just walk around there carelessly anymore. You need protection."

"What for?" Kiba answered hopelessly. "I've lost the only thing I was even living for."

"Don't say that," Deidara pleaded, his face riddled with concern.

"It's true," Kiba argued with a defeated shrug. "He's been refusing to come home, and I haven't left in days because I've been too afraid that I'd miss him. I ask him to talk to me in public, thinking he'll feel more comfortable around more people, and he just ignores me. He lets me wander out to a fucking vamp bar all alone." Kiba's voice wasn't angry but, rather, shaky and miserable. "He wants nothing more to do with me. I'm just that human that makes his life miserable, aren't I? Well, fuck what happens to me. I'm already dead anyway."

"Please..." Naruto pleaded quietly.

Kiba cut in though, saving Naruto the trouble of coming up with any more words of comfort, something that he wasn't sure he could do anyway. "I'm Fugaku Uchiha's son too," he interjected. "Even if things  _are_... fucked up... in my family, I like to think that dad would still take out any idiot stupid enough to mess with me."

Naruto wondered why Kiba referred to Sasuke's father as 'dad'. It was strange to him. Fugaku was his  _step_ father, yet Kiba referred to him as something much more personal. Naruto shrugged it off though. It wasn't crazy to think that one could simply be close with their stepfather, so it should be no big deal. Of course, Fugaku was painted as a man who didn't get close to anyone, especially not his  _step_ son, but Naruto quickly decided that it was a topic better left to another conversation when he heard Itachi speaking up from behind him.

"And he certainly would," Itachi added softly, resting a hand on Kiba's shoulder. "He would kill for you, Kiba. Father is..." Itachi paused, and then went in another direction. "You are a part of the family, no matter what."

Itachi nodded sharply, as if the action would make the words truer. It was obvious how much he wanted to believe his own words, but it was also clear how much he struggled to do so. Itachi's response seemed to spark something in Kiba that caused his expression to wane from certainty to certain doubt.

After a moment, Kiba mused aloud, "Maybe I'm  _not_  safe."

Itachi flashed Kiba a sad smile, a smile that told of family secrets Naruto was curious to hear. He was sure it would just be one of those 'ask an Uchiha' things though, and Itachi would, certainly, just direct him to Sasuke like everyone  _always_  did. It really was odd that Sasuke seemed to be the sole secret-keeper of the family. It was like they all thought Sasuke would murder them for talking about anything, like they needed his approval to speak freely. Naruto let those thoughts disappear. He had more important matters to tend to.

"Come over!" Naruto suggested again. "Just for a few days. Just until Gaara contacts you again to say he's sorry. He will, too. He loves you. I know he does."

"Don't say that," Kiba said quietly, closing his eyes to fight off tears. "It hurts too much."

"Still, just come over," Naruto repeated once more, but Kiba shook his head no.

"I feel better at home," Kiba said. "If I need to go out, Kankuro will take me." It wasn't the answer that Naruto had wanted, but it was an answer he would accept. Kankuro would protect Kiba a lot better than Naruto ever could anyway. It would do.

The week following "the incident", when Naruto first saw Gaara bite Kiba, had been a tumultuous week indeed. Kiba had thought that Gaara's hankering for solitude would only last a few days, but Gaara still had yet to make much acknowledgment that Kiba still existed. There  _were_  the two times that he'd shown up in the suite, only after having been dragged by Temari... literally. However, he'd fled after just a few short, unpleasant minutes each time, leaving everyone upset and frustrated. Even if Kankuro was worried about Gaara's state of sanity around humans, he was also worried about Kiba's state of sanity  _alone_. He wanted them to make up because they so obviously needed to. At least, that was what everyone else thought. Gaara was the only one clueless of that fact.

Sasuke had been infuriatingly absent the whole week too. Naruto knew that Sasuke wasn't too fond of him, but he should still have been there for his friends. He  _had_  been friends with Gaara nearly since birth and Kiba  _was_  his stepbrother. What was Sasuke doing? He was the one to start the argument that started this whole thing to begin with too! So he was kind of responsible. Even if he'd expressed his distaste for Kiba and Gaara's relationship very bluntly, Sasuke should still have done  _something_. One doesn't simply turn his back on such bonds—even if he  _is_  Sasuke Uchiha, the bastard of all bastards—does he? Did his tragic story give him some right to be such an asshole? Naruto thought not.

Naruto nursed his beer begrudgingly, momentarily giving up on his attempt to comfort Kiba and, instead, sending angry thoughts to penetrate Gaara and Sasuke's bastard minds. He decided that he would have to have a really stern talking to with them both. They just didn't seem to have their priorities straight right now. Sasuke was ignoring his suffering best friends and Gaara was ignoring his suffering lover. It was madness, and Naruto could take no more of it. He decided, then, that he would go talk to Gaara as soon as they left the bar. Then, he would see Sasuke.  _Then_ , at the end of it all,  _everyone_  would get their shit straight or else... well... he hadn't worked that out just yet. He wasn't sure what he could possibly do to two vampires, but he would do whatever it took to help Kiba. He'd figure out the details later.

Naruto and Kiba were later escorted back to Kiba's suite by Deidara. The blond had been more than willing to take them, seeing as Itachi had what Deidara referred to as his "bitch switch" flipped. He had been extremely moody for the past week, and Deidara was sure that Sasuke was a big factor in that. Even if the pair hadn't gotten along well in years, Sasuke had always been agreeable and allowed Itachi to keep tabs on him. Lately, however, Sasuke hadn't shown up at the bar, nor had he taken any of Itachi's calls or answered any of his texts. Itachi didn't want to push his brother too much though, so he avoided actually going to Sasuke's apartment. Apparently, Sasuke didn't tolerate his brother's uninvited presence very well. Naruto was inclined to inquire about this topic, but Deidara was off of it as quickly as he was on it and Naruto knew it was yet another one of those 'ask an Uchiha' things.

Once they had all entered Kiba's suite, as if he could sense them at once, Kankuro showed up. Naruto thought it a real feat that Kankuro had made it down his own private elevator, crossed the private hall in the lobby, and made it up this private elevator just a few short minutes after they had entered the suite themselves. He attributed it to those vampire powers, whatever they were. He'd really have to ask someone about that soon. This was not the time, though, because Kankuro came into the suite looking absolutely murderous.

Deidara was instantly on the defensive. It wasn't like Deidara and Kankuro weren't friends though, so Naruto wondered what the big deal was. Why was Deidara so bristled? It could have just been Deidara's natural defensiveness taking over—if any vampire came in looking as angry as Kankuro did now, it wouldn't be senseless to get defensive. But why was Kankuro looking so angry to begin with? If Naruto thought about it, Kankuro seemed to be honing in on  _him,_  and Deidara was slowly placing himself as a blockade in between the two. Fuck. What had Naruto done? When Kankuro blatantly ignored Deidara's warning hisses, Deidara released a full-blown growl and placed himself firmly in Kankuro's way. The noise startled Naruto, but Kankuro was unfazed. He stopped his advance but continued to glare solely at Naruto as he spoke.

"What are you thinking, you fucking idiot?!" Kankuro spat.

Yep, definitely mad at Naruto.

Naruto shook his head in confusion. "I-I don't know what you're talking about," he replied, shaken.

In truth, he was kind of scared silly. His heart pounded double time in his chest as he thought about his plan to approach Gaara. Kankuro had been adamant that no one, under  _any_  circumstances, were to approach Gaara. If a message was to be relayed to him, Kankuro or Temari would do it themselves. Naruto and Kiba had agreed at the time, but Naruto really paid it no mind. That is, not until this very moment. Was that what Kankuro meant? Did he somehow know of Naruto's plan? How, though? Naruto had only come up with it less than an hour ago. It wasn't like he'd told anyone either. Kankuro snarled and, to Naruto's surprise, Deidara wheeled around on him too.

"What  _are_  you thinking, you fucking idiot?!" Deidara exclaimed. After a moment, Deidara groaned. "Oh,  _I'm_  an idiot! I should have seen that coming! What if you had... oh my god... I wouldn't have even  _known_!"

Naruto was confused, to say the least. Deidara should really start speaking in full, comprehensible sentences. Naruto was going to comment on that, until Kankuro spoke again.

"I've been watching Gaara like a hawk. Anything directed at him goes right through me. If you weren't looking and it wasn't a particularly intense feeling, how  _would_  you know?" Kankuro said to the back of Deidara's head in what appeared to be an attempt at consolation, or something of that sort. Deidara glanced back at him momentarily and nodded in agreement or understanding, or something of  _that_  sort, before turning back to scrutinize Naruto.

"You're not going to talk to him," Deidara said firmly. "He might kill you. I can feel the malcontent radiating off of him right now." Naruto raised a confused brow.  _What_  was going on?  _How_ did they know what he was thinking and  _how_  did they know what  _Gaara_  was thinking or feeling or  _whatever_? Just _how_? His eyes must have been questioning enough, because Kankuro explained.

"We can feel what you feel, Naruto," Kankuro said matter-of-factly. "If we're looking for it, even the tiniest of emotions is palpable. If it's strong enough, we'll pick up on it automatically. You can't hide anything from us. I don't know what you're  _thinking_ , but I do know what you're feeling. You feel angry, upset, betrayed, and it's all directed at one specific redhead dwelling across the hall. I can feel your need for answers, your need for change. Not only that, but I can feel Gaara's inclination to provide none of that. Speaking with him will be fruitless, dangerous, and flat-out stupid."

Naruto pondered this for a short moment. So this was one of their vampire powers. Naruto had to admit that it was kind of awesome, even if it was being used against him right now. If he thought about it, it wasn't really being used  _against_  him though. Kankuro and Deidara were just trying to keep him safe.

After a few moments, Naruto shrugged. There was no point in arguing. "I won't bother him then," he said, "since you feel so strongly about it."

Deidara dropped his defense-gone-offense immediately, feeling that Naruto's answer was good enough for him. He was instantly back in good spirits. Kankuro, however, seemed a bit more scrutinizing, thinking that Naruto gave in a bit too easily. He could feel the agreeance radiating off of Naruto though, and he couldn't argue with that, so he gave in shortly after. Deidara kept a wary eye on Kankuro nonetheless. Naruto guessed that Deidara was just picking up on some underlying emotions in Kankuro. Naruto just hoped that none of those underlying emotions were aimed at him. He would definitely like Kankuro on his side. You know, in case Gaara decided to break out and attack. Kankuro was the only one who could urge Gaara into submiss with a simple look of his eye. Although, Naruto mused that Gaara's father might also have the same effect. He really hoped that he'd never find out though.

Deidara only hung around for another hour or so before returning to Itachi. Naruto was sad to see him go too. The two blonds had grown close. Deidara was just so easy to get along with. In fact, he was just like an older version of both Naruto and Kiba. That was why the pair of younger men loved him to no end. Kiba, however, was lost in his sad state of seemingly eternal depression, so Naruto and Deidara were one man short. Not that it really mattered. They had just as much fun without Kiba, though it  _did_  feel a bit off without his spirit. Kankuro stuck around, as he always did, but he, thankfully, had lost his edge. He would occasionally tense up, but Naruto attributed that to him feeling around Gaara's mind and stumbling upon some things that he didn't like.

When it was dark, Naruto finally decided to go home. He wanted to stay the night, but Kiba had insisted otherwise. Tomorrow would be their last free day before school started and it was logical for them to focus on preparing. Naruto insisted that they could focus on preparing together, but he understood Kiba's point of view and he expected Kiba to be just as insistent. So, in the end, he agreed reluctantly. He had to remind himself that Kankuro would watch Kiba like a hawk and that Gaara would probably rather kill someone on the streets before feeding on Kiba again anyway to be at ease. When Kankuro and Naruto were situated by the curb and waiting for Naruto's taxi, Kankuro gave Naruto four packs of chocolate as well as three syringes filled with a translucent, blue liquid, all in a plastic bag, like he'd just bought it at Walmart.

"The chocolate is laced with anti-venom," Kankuro began, "and that's pure anti-venom in the syringes. If someone tries to attack you, stick it right here." Kankuro touched a spot on his own neck as a demonstration.

Naruto recognized it as the special spot that Kiba had so often rubbed to calm Gaara down. He faintly wondered if that was a special spot for all vampires. Sure, jabbing your thumb into the hinge of  _anyone's_  jaw would be effective, but Naruto wondered if a gentler touch it had the same calming effect that it had on Gaara. He made a mental note to try it out on someone like Sasuke before Kankuro interrupted his train of thought.

"Not that you  _have_  to stick it there," Kankuro added. "If someone attacks you, just sticking it anywhere would be good. Use it sparingly though. It's kind of expensive. Use chocolate when you can."

Naruto chuckled flippantly. "It's like you expect me to get attacked everywhere I go," he said jokingly. Kankuro's lack of amusement worried Naruto into thinking that, perhaps, he truly was in constant danger.

After a moment, Kankuro responded seriously. "You  _do_  smell appetizing, and your reputation as Sasuke's pet isn't gonna be much help if you're never seen with him," he pointed out. "The sheer fear alone of touching what's Sasuke's will keep them at bay, but they'll get daring the less that Sasuke is seen actually protecting you. Then, someone will make the first move. After that, you're helpless."

Naruto raised a brow. "How are humans even still alive? Your race is brutal."

Kankuro snorted. "You aren't just..." He paused and reworded his response. "You're different, Naruto. People want to get their hands on you for... reasons." Naruto watched Kankuro expectantly for a short moment, sure that Kankuro was getting at something really significant. He went on with something disappointing though, something that felt like a dodge to Naruto, and he wasn't convinced that Kankuro had intended to say it at first. "People would like to get their hands on someone like you, someone who has been claimed by a child of such power as the Uchiha or Sundama. It would be the sweetest act of rebellion if they could get something important to someone important."

"Itachi, Sasuke, Gaara, Temari, myself, we're all targeted just for being us," Kankuro went on. "They think you're Sasuke's and, even if you're not, you're also our friend. Getting to you would be getting to us." Kankuro paused for a moment and it looked a lot like he was picking and choosing his words wisely, leading Naruto to believe that the truth was being conveniently left out. When were people going to just start telling him what the fuck was going on? "There are many who oppose VSAF and would like nothing more than to make that known by doing something like taking what is ours, something like you or even Kiba."

"That's all?" Naruto asked, unimpressed. "That's the only reason you worry about me? Because I'm your soft spot?"

He waited impatiently as Kankuro pondered what he should say. Why was everyone always pondering, pausing, calculating, weighing their fucking words? Why didn't anyone just  _say_  what they were  _thinking_? When did the secrets stop? Naruto could see that there was something more, some information that Kankuro wasn't sure he should divulge, but Naruto didn't feel like being left out of the loop anymore.

"What is it?" Naruto asked, his tone demanding.

Just then, the cab pulled up to the curb and Kankuro's attention was drawn away. He stepped forward and opened the door, and Naruto could literally see the chances of Kankuro divulging anything more drain away.

"Taxi's here," Kankuro said quietly, pointing out the obvious.

Naruto narrowed his eyes into a glare. "What is it, Kankuro?" he demanded again.

Kankuro simply urged Naruto toward the vehicle's open door with a gentle hand. "That's another conversation for another day," he said. "You'll know in time. I promise. Until then, be vigilant and don't hesitate to call on me." As Naruto slid begrudgingly into the car, Kankuro watched him. When Naruto was settled and looking back up at him, he bent over and supported his weight with an arm slung over the top of the car. "Call my name, and I will come. Wherever you are, I will hear and I will answer. I'm always listening, Naruto."

Could Kankuro really hear him no matter what? Naruto looked imploringly into Kankuro's dark eyes for a long moment, trying to decipher what he saw there until Kankuro spoke again. "Understand?" he asked softly.

Naruto nodded and Kankuro nodded back before closing the door. Naruto continued to watch him through the window as the cab started moving away. For a few short seconds, Kankuro remained. Then, in the blink of an eye, he was gone. All Naruto saw was the door to the lobby slowly swinging shut.

**~ ( >^.^)> <(^.^<) ~**

Naruto woke comfortably cocooned in his blankets. He yawned and stretched before lazily rolling his eyes to check the time on his alarm clock. Five in the afternoon. Had he really been that tired? He slowly removed himself from his shell of blankets, wondering if it was even worth getting out of bed at this hour. He picked up his phone to see three missed calls from Kiba though. Quickly, he dialed the number back and dressed. Kiba was worth anything.

When Kiba answered, he explained that he was simply bored and seeking company. He offered for Naruto to go over and stay the night, admitting that it had been lonelier than he'd expected without Naruto there. Plus, they had the same 8 o'clock philosophy class the next morning, both having already gone to their orientation three days prior. Naruto agreed happily and, for once, drove his own car to Kiba's. He was glad to see Temari waiting for him in the guest parking lot, not that he honestly felt that he needed protection. However, Kankuro's ominous words had sort of shaken him.

The rest of the day was spent with Kiba in much better spirits. Temari, Kankuro, and Naruto joined forces and actually got him to laugh. He was looking like the old Kiba in no time, and it was refreshing. They went to sleep rather early, even though Naruto wasn't entirely sure he'd be able to sleep after having slept so long into the day. He didn't want to sit alone in the suite though, so he retired to the guest bedroom anyway. He lay awake most of the night and when he was woken by Kiba early in the morning, he found that he didn't really feel all that tired anyway.

They went to campus with Kankuro and Temari, Naruto practically bouncing around like a rubber ball with excitement the entire time, and made their way to their very first class as university students. Naruto was glad that he wasn't fawned over all day. He was able to make it through the entire day without Kankuro or Temari escorting him everywhere as he had expected they would do. They seemed to trust in his capability to protect himself for the most part, and he was thankful for that. He loved them, but he was glad for the breathing room.

Naruto had two classes with Kiba. Philosophy and Math. Naruto had been happy to make friends on the first day too. He and Kiba together, especially with Kiba's renewed high spirits, seemed to be social magnets. They had met a pink-haired girl in their Philosophy class named Sakura and her blonde friend, Ino. In Math, they came across a pair of friends, Shikamaru and Chouji. The four men decided to spend lunch together. By chance, they met Ino and Sakura again in the cafeteria as well. The group hit it off pretty damn well too. Sakura and Ino even flagged over their friend Neji, his cousin Hinata, and his girlfriend TenTen. All of which fit in perfectly.

Naruto and Kiba had to part ways after lunch though. Naruto was pleased to see that he had Shikamaru, Hinata, and Neji in his Earth Science course though. The only thing that was wrong with his first day was the lack of Sasuke. He got over the lack of Gaara pretty fast, not even sure that Gaara hadn't just dropped out of university altogether, but he was really hoping to have had at least one class with Sasuke. However, he did still have the next day's schedule, so all wasn't lost.

Perhaps he'd given up too soon though. When he walked into his Arts History class at the end of the day, he saw a very familiar head of Sasuke hair, and his heart stopped. Sasuke looked right at Naruto the very moment that Naruto's heart stuttered too. His face was blank, but it quickly contorted into a displeased scowl before turning away again. Naruto all but sprinted up the steps in the lecture hall to claim a seat beside Sasuke, all thoughts of Sasuke's obvious distaste for him forgotten. He simply wanted to occupy space beside Sasuke.

Naruto had never really factored in the fact that Sasuke literally hated him when he'd devised his plan to "become close" with the Uchiha, but Sasuke allowed Naruto to stay in his seat without hassle. He did ignore Naruto resolutely for the bulk of the time though. He didn't speak to Naruto, so Naruto eventually gave up his attempts at small talk. The excitement of being next to Sasuke never waned. Sasuke likely picked up on it too because Naruto caught the tiny smirks that Sasuke sported when Naruto would get especially worked up, like when Sasuke would accidentally brush against him or look his way. Naruto was simply elated to be next to Sasuke. He vaguely recalled that there was a  _reason_  for wanting to have a class with the guy, but he had long forgotten it.

After a very pleasing first day, Naruto got a text from Kiba telling him that he just wanted to be alone for a while. Naruto agreed in understanding, figuring that Kankuro and Temari would do a decent enough job at cheering up his friend, so he went home himself. As he made his way across campus back to his car, he remembered his objectives with Sasuke. He was supposed to be figuring Sasuke out, worming his way into the Uchiha's heart so that he would spill some of those secrets that Naruto wanted to hear. Well, he supposed that flattering Sasuke with his obvious desire to be next to the bastard was one way to worm into his heart.

It was deeper than just some curiosity too though, wasn't it? He did want to be close to Sasuke  _just_  to be close, didn't he? Even if Sasuke never wanted to share his deep, dark secrets, Naruto still wanted to worm his way into that heart anyway, right? Right. This was more than some stupid plot to satiate his curiosity. He truly wanted to know Sasuke because he truly cared. There was just some weird magnetic force between the two, like some string drawing them together. There was just the minor snag of Sasuke detesting Naruto, but Naruto was confident that he could melt Sasuke's heart with the right amount of charm.

In high spirits, Naruto drove home, plotting all the while about how he could win Sasuke's heart. But then a thought suddenly struck him, a very important thought indeed. First, he had to convince Sasuke to help Kiba and Gaara with their relationship issues.  _That_  was the most important thing here. Sasuke's secrets could stay secrets and his heart could stay frozen, Naruto decided. Although, that didn't mean that his curiosity or determination had dissipated. It was just that Kiba was more important at the time. He was suffering without Gaara and Naruto needed Sasuke's help to fix everything. Plus, there was no guarantee that his attempts at gaining headway with Sasuke wouldn't backfire. If he pissed Sasuke off even more, then Sasuke would never agree to help. So that mission would just have to wait.

Naruto took to pondering about how and when he could most effectively request Sasuke's services on mission "Save Gaara and Kiba". Then, he took to pondering about what he could even  _do_  to save Gaara and Kiba. He thought hard as he drove, and he'd just decided on a final plan when he pulled into his designated parking spot at his apartment complex. It wasn't an elaborate plan. It was actually really, really simple. It was, more or less, just forcing Gaara and Kiba together and hoping that they got along. Okay, so it was kind of a terrible plan, but Naruto was proud of it nonetheless, and he was still going to execute it.

Pleased with himself, Naruto made himself a cup of ramen and watched TV for a bit to just relax. Soon, he was settling down for an early night, feeling rather excited about his classes the next day. He had English, History, and Art, and he was wondering if he'd see any of his new friends in those classes too. His pleasant thoughts were quickly replaced by a stifling sadness though. He began to remember his father, Jiraiya, his farm. Sure, he had grown attached to this place too, but that didn't stop him from missing the country. He missed his old life.

As he dwelt on the memory of his parents, whom he could never see again, his heart was overwhelmed with grief. Why was it hurting so much right now? He simply couldn't dispel the ache in his chest. It grew in intensity until he felt a wetness on his cheeks. Recognizing that he could not always be the cheerful person he portrayed on the outside, he resigned to the onslaught of emotion and sobbed into his pillow instead. If he couldn't be rid of it, then he'd just have to get it out of his system. If he thought about it, he never really did mourn his father. He'd just pushed it to the back of his mind, choosing to focus on less painful things. Not that there was an abundance of those types of things, seeing as he had lost his home to strangers and his godfather to travels around the same time as losing his father.

He faintly heard a rustle from his living room, a sound nearly drowned out by his sobs. It was out of place enough to alert him though, so he choked back the tears and slowly crept to his bedroom doorway. He heard another rustle but when he peeked out of the doorway, there was nothing. He let it go, convincing himself that it was just paranoia and nothing more. It did serve as a decent distraction long enough for the grief to subside significantly. He thought that, perhaps, now he would be able to sleep. He curled back up in bed and took a few deep, calming breaths. He was slowly drifting off to sleep when he heard another rustle from the living room. He paid it no mind, thinking it was just his imagination again.

Before he knew it, though, something was on top of him. He was flipped over onto his stomach, his face buried in his pillow, with a weight settled onto his lower back. His hands were trapped under his chest and both of his shoulders were being pushed firmly into the bed, preventing him from struggling too much. In the madness of panic, he very vaguely remembered Kankuro's promise for protection. He didn't think about how  _insane_  it seemed. He just reacted.

"KANKURO!" he screamed desperately into the pillow, hoping that, by some miracle, Kankuro would actually hear him.

He cried out again, this time in pain, as something sharp slashed across his back. His attacker pushed his shoulders even further into the mattress and Naruto became overly aware of just how little he could breathe. He felt hot blood oozing from the wound and whimpered when he felt lips on the gash. His attacker groaned appreciatively and Naruto felt sick as something hard in the intruder's nether region poked into his back. It was painfully unpleasant as his attacker slowly trailed their lips through the blood and up to the base of Naruto's neck. He paused, letting his hot breath rest there. Then, the fear of being raped washed over Naruto, a thought that was thrown to the back of his mind when he felt sharp teeth poking lightly against his neck.

He wanted to fight, but the lack of oxygen was making him faint. He was suffocating  _and_  he was going to be raped  _and_  he was going to be bitten by a vampire  _and_  he was probably going to turn into one too! His attacker grabbed a fistful of Naruto's hair and offered the blond a reprieve, forcing his head sideways so that he could breathe properly. Naruto's vision was swimming, keeping him from seeing who it was, not that he was even worried about that at the moment. He was just glad that he could breathe again. He weakly tried to fight, but that only caused his attacker to chuckle darkly.

"You won't get away," the man whispered. The voice seemed familiar, but Naruto couldn't quite pin it. It sent terrible shivers down his spine and caused all of his nerves to seize. He felt frozen, immobile, and weak. "You're mine," the man added. Naruto tried to gulp down his dread, still panting heavily, but that only made him want to hurl.

"Kankuro," he whispered again in a pathetic plea for help.

He tried in vain to focus on his attacker, but his vision was still blurred to all hell. He felt those teeth prod at his neck again and he sucked in a sharp breath. He shut his eyes in horrified anticipation, but he felt, instead, the weight lift off of his back abruptly. The force with which his attacker was removed caused the man's teeth to scrape deep gashes across his shoulder and Naruto cried out involuntarily in pain. He had the wits to be thankful that it wasn't a bite, completely unaware that he had been infected with venom either way. He lay there for a few moments, coping with the pain. Then, he heard a deep, animalistic growl emanate from his living room, and he snapped into action.

His vision finally having cleared enough to be useful again, he jumped out of bed. The movement sent a whole other wave of dizziness to his head, but he staggered quickly to the doorway of his bedroom. Feeling his limbs get heavier with every step and his breath grow more labored, he slumped against the door frame for support. These were new sensations that hadn't been there just moments before. This was unlike being nearly suffocated. It was far worse.

He felt completely exhausted, but he also felt like he would  _die_  if he closed his eyes. To his dismay, his vision started swimming again, only much more drastically this time. His legs buckled and he slid down his door frame, sucking in ragged breaths. He felt unconsciousness weighing heavily upon him. He registered the sound of a few loud noises and some words being exchanged—things that he couldn't decipher properly—before he focused entirely on the sensation of falling as he slumped forward toward the ground. He was swept off his feet and lain back down in his bed before ever meeting the ground though. He groaned weakly in pain as he was maneuvered to lie on his stomach.

"I'm sorry. Forgive me," his savior whispered.

"Wh...?" Naruto began to ask in his confusion. This person had just saved him. Why was he apologizing?

Naruto understood, though, as soon as he felt teeth scrape against the gash on his shoulder. He whimpered in pain, but felt far too weak to truly protest. At first, the sickness and exhaustion multiplied exponentially, causing Naruto to think that he really, honest to god  _was_  going to die. However, his savior sucked along the entire gash and Naruto could feel his strength returning quickly. His delirium was quickly lifting, and he rationalized that it had to be Kankuro. There was no one else that it could be. It definitely wasn't Gaara because, even in that haze, anyone would have been able to make out a head of flaming red hair.

He understood that Kankuro must have been removing venom and using a great deal of will power to do so. After many very long, very agonizing moments, Naruto heard Kankuro gasp desperately for air and watched as he staggered backwards across the room until he slammed into the wall. Then, he slowly crouched down and huddled into a ball. Naruto didn't feel the effects of the venom anymore, but he still felt tired and woozy. His eyes still couldn't focus properly. He watched Kankuro from the bed, hating how much he resembled Gaara in a bloodlust craze.

Even through the blur that was his vision, Kankuro looked different. But that would be expected, right? No one would look the same when they're blurry. The guy was tall, lean, and had dark hair. That was generally what Kankuro looked like. Naruto wanted to speak, to be reassured, but sleep was beckoning and he just couldn't open his mouth or fight for consciousness. Before he knew it, he was engulfed by blackness.

_To be continued..._


	8. Deluge

Naruto woke with a killer headache and became overly aware of the throbbing pain that covered half of his back when he tried to stretch. The long gash that trailed from the middle of his back up to his right shoulder protested his movement harshly. When he tried to move in a way that wouldn't agitate the wound, the parallel gashes across his left shoulder then began their own protest. He groaned unhappily, but fought the pain anyway. He had to get out of bed somehow. Once up, he paused to breathe a bit of the pain away before carefully making his way to the bathroom. It dawned on him that Kankuro had dressed his wounds only when he saw the gauze in the mirror.

He went about his morning routine slowly, brushing his teeth and washing his face with caution. It's actually quite amazing how much a person uses their back and shoulder muscles in even the simplest of tasks. Recognizing that there was no way he'd be getting in the shower, Naruto opted to simply wet his hair a bit and comb into less of an unruly mess. He, honestly, didn't care to fight with his mane in such a delicate state though. Once satisfied with his general hygiene, he popped some pain pills and grabbed a fair amount to stash in his bag before returning to his room to dress himself.

When he reentered his room and nonchalantly glanced to his side, he was brought to a dead stop. How had he  _not_  seen that before? There was blood all over his wall, and he could only stare at it wide-eyed for a few long moments. It looked like someone had tried to clean it but gave up pretty quickly. Naruto stepped closer, wondering whose blood it was. His attacker's? His own? Kankuro's? He couldn't really remember much from the previous night, not that he'd been able to really see anything well enough in the first place, but he was pretty sure that no one had bled out all over his wall. He definitely didn't remember that, and he felt that would be something he'd commit to memory if he'd seen it happen at all.

A slight shift in his posture had his body yelling in disapproval again and he decided that he would have to make a stop at the hospital after classes and get a prescription for some real pain killers. He would also have to get a hold of Kankuro too. He had questions, lots of questions.

Gingerly, Naruto dressed himself. He decided on a light breakfast, just two untoasted pieces of bread, and sluggishly made his way to the university. The drive was absolutely miserable, since he couldn't sit back in his seat properly. Not to mention, every time he turned, his body flared up in pain. By the time he actually made it to the school, he'd already decided to take the bus home or something. Driving was simply no longer an option. Maybe he could recruit a friend to drive him and then he could offer to send them home in a cab. He hadn't decided for sure yet, but he absolutely wasn't getting back behind that wheel.

He had to be very wary of his movements because he really didn't want to alert his friends of his wounds by making them bleed through his shirt, as if the way he was walking wasn't alert enough in itself. As he hobbled along, he just could not bring himself to feel excited about his new classes on account of the fact that he felt down-right miserable. Had it not been for Kankuro, he may have already been a vampire himself, or even dead. He shuddered at the thought, but then wondered if that would really be so bad. Perhaps Sasuke would like him a little bit better that way. As a vampire, he meant, not dead. Although, Sasuke might like him dead too.

Naruto was as pleased as he could possibly manage to be to discover that he shared his first class of the day, English, with some familiar faces from the day before. He was not pleased, however, to discover that Sakura was the motherly type  _and_  she was studying to be a doctor.

' _Well, fuck,_ ' was the sole thought that passed through his head as soon as he saw the worried crease in her delicate brow line.

She started asking questions as soon as Naruto was within ear shot, and he had to be very cunning to keep up. In the end, she couldn't be satisfied unless he let her check him out at lunch. Thankfully, Naruto was spared any further arguing when the professor promptly started class. He'd never agreed to the pseudo physical, but he hadn't denied either. He noticed that Sakura and Ino trailed him all the way to his History class, but he didn't protest. He just hoped that it would make Sakura feel better. If letting her watch him like an overprotective dog would satisfy her for the moment—as if she would be able to protect him from whatever she thought had hurt him anyway—Naruto would just let it go, because he definitely wasn't going to tell her the truth and he hadn't come up with a real excuse yet.

As he entered his next class and watched Sakura and Ino change course to head to their own classes too, he sighed as he began to devise a plan for how to avoid them at lunch. He started up the steps of the lecture hall slowly, glancing around for any familiar faces. His gaze landed on a sight that he was more pleased than he thought he could possibly be in his state of health to see. There was Sasuke, sitting near the top of the classroom with no one occupying the space around him. Of course, Naruto made his way toward the man, and Sasuke watched his every move too. He watched Naruto approach, even watched him a few moments after he'd already sat down and carefully begun to retrieve his laptop from his bag. When Naruto didn't give him whatever it was that he wanted, though, he chose to look positively aghast instead.

When Naruto glanced up at Sasuke and saw that the man's face had scrunched up into an expression of disgust, he was totally flabbergasted. A few seconds ago, Sasuke had been sporting a totally different expression. Why the sudden change? Did he smell? He checked, and he didn't smell at all. Sasuke allowed Naruto to stay beside him without complaint, but he kept his face crumpled as if he were smelling an especially displeasing scent. He often looked over at Naruto and simply snorted softly in malcontent. Totally unaware of what had brought on such a strong reaction, Naruto became quickly annoyed.

"You don't have to be so rude," Naruto grumbled while the teacher droned on about something.

The only audible response Naruto received was another soft snort of discontentment. Sasuke had been reasonably fine the previous day, but now he was suddenly so dramatically displeased with Naruto, despite the fact that he had  _just_  been staring at Naruto like a kid looking at a man made of candy the entire time Naruto had approached him. Why was he acting so bipolar? Naruto just ignored Sasuke from then on, since the man was serving no purpose other than to piss Naruto off. He chose to focus, instead, on the task of not passing out cold. He sat still and stiff as a board, grimacing every time he had to move more than a mere centimeter.

Once class was dismissed, Sasuke quickly began to gather his things. Irritated even further by his eagerness to be away, Naruto couldn't help but throw one last angry comment at Sasuke before he went and disappeared.

"Y'know, you're an asshole," Naruto muttered.

He didn't say it loud enough so that anyone else could hear, but he knew Sasuke would pick it up. Or at least he hoped so. He figured better senses were probably one of the perks of being a vampire. Sasuke actually paused for a fleeting moment and glanced over at Naruto, his expression clearing to something that Naruto probably wouldn't have been able to read if he'd even been able to catch more than a momentary glimpse of it. As it was, just as Naruto noticed that Sasuke had even hesitated in his movement, he only looked up in time to  _just barely_  catch sight of the man's change in expression before Sasuke sharply turned away and left.

Naruto watched Sasuke's move gracefully through the throng of people attempting to exit the room. He weaved his way through the crowd effortlessly, somehow finding all the right spaces to slip through. Part of Naruto couldn't help but recognize how innately striking Sasuke could be, but another part of him simply wanted to throw something heavy at the back of Sasuke's head. Alas, all he could do was gather his things and go about his day.

When he finally exited the classroom, he decided that it would be safest to take the lesser known paths to the Student Union for lunch if he wanted to avoid Sakura. In fact, if he could manage to move his body fast enough, he could avoid going to the Student Union altogether. Encouraged to endure more discomfort as long as it meant avoiding Sakura's hassling, Naruto decided he would buy something small from one of the snack stands he always saw littering the campus and chow down on some bench somewhere. He decidedly rounded the corner of the building he was exiting to traverse the lesser-known paths of the university and separated from the already dissipating crowd.

The cacophony of babbling students slowly waned and was replaced by the serene sound of birds chirping. He smiled as he inhaled a deep breath and turned his face into the sun, and then a wretched sound interrupted his moment of peace. He turned toward the noise, pausing in his step as he vaguely recognized a figure standing beyond the obscuring brush. He raised up on his tiptoes and craned his neck to peer beyond the greenery to see the figure leaning heavily against the wall, doubled over, and obviously hurling. He opened his mouth to express his concern, but the person snapped their head up to met his gaze dead on and stopped the words cold in his throat. He realized that it was Sasuke only a split second before the man's body just... disappeared.

Naruto sighed, slumping and frowning, and some of his anger at Sasuke waned to be replaced with mild concern. Whether it be in anger or concern, Naruto decided that he just didn't have the time or energy to be worrying about Sasuke's odd behavior. It wasn't like he could really say that Sasuke's behavior was odd anyway. For all he knew, bipolar was Sasuke's norm. What was he really expecting anyway? For Sasuke to pick up on his strange fascination for the man and return the feelings promptly? That was just silly!

Once Naruto had food in him, he felt a lot better. He felt well enough to actually muster up genuine excitement for his Art class. This was real Art, the kind that you  _do_   _art_  in. Naruto was absolutely stoked about that. At this point, he wasn't sure how he felt about sharing classes with Sasuke anymore, but there Sasuke happened to be anyway. He was sitting as close to the back of the class as possible and right beside a window. Naruto chose to avoid him this time. Today was just a bad day to want to be close to Sasuke.

It actually seemed like lingering was making Sasuke even  _less_  fond of Naruto, but Naruto needed the opposite to be happening. Or he at least needed Sasuke to keep up his previous level of tolerance. If he wanted his plan for Kiba and Gaara to work out, that is. Not that his or Sasuke's presence was really going to effect the success of that mission, but Naruto was convinced that getting Sasuke to play along would do some good somehow, somewhere. Naruto also chose to stay away because he just didn't feel inclined to endure Sasuke's dramatic reactions for another hour and a half. That made staying away all the more appealing.

Naruto ended up deciding somewhere during that hour and a half that he would have to talk to Sasuke soon and convince him to tag along on the mission. Kiba and Naruto didn't share any classes that day, but Naruto had run into him during the last few minutes or so of lunch. Kiba had mentioned Naruto's absence at their usual dining spot, but he hadn't seemed all that concerned. In fact, when Naruto had asked how the other responded to him ditching them, Kiba couldn't recall what their reactions had been at all. Almost as if he hadn't even been at lunch himself. It was obvious that Kiba was withdrawing back into himself and becoming purely miserable again. Their friends would start shooting Naruto concerned glances over the next few days as the desolation progressed in its domination of Kiba once more, and Naruto would just have to feign ignorance. It was already gonna be trouble enough to keep Sakura from practically ripping his clothes off in search of his wounds. He simply couldn't cover up Kiba's obvious depression too. Something needed to be done. It was imperative that Naruto spring his plan into action soon, and that meant talking to Sasuke.

The rest of the week and weekend passed painfully slow... literally. As expected, Kiba's ever-deepening misery became a topic of concern, and Naruto had to cunningly pretend he hadn't the slightest clue as to  _why_  Kiba was feeling so blue. The buzz among the group became so incessant that Naruto started to wonder if he was actually saving himself any grief by pretending to be clueless. It seemed like he was dealing with the same amount of fallout either way, but he still kept his lips sealed. The new reasoning for his silence became that it wasn't his place to talk about Kiba's issues. There was  _something_  to be thankful for in Kiba's worsening state though, and that was the fact that Sakura became sidetracked enough to not pester Naruto relentlessly about his wounds.

And, oh, his wounds were a whole other bag of hammers. They seemed to be getting more painful as time went on. He'd gone to the hospital and been awarded Vicodin and antibacterial cream, but taking the Vicodin made him feel invincible enough to sleep on his back. And sleeping on his back inevitably caused him to wake up in searing pain. You'd think that he'd have learned his lesson after night one, but he, somehow, managed to end up on his back somewhere in the night anyway, whether he went to sleep that way or not. In short, time was passing miserably.

To add to the bundle, Naruto had been trying to get a hold of Kankuro, but to no avail. He was conveniently gone when Naruto showed up at Kiba's, and Kiba's memory conveniently lapsed every time Naruto inquired about him too. It was infuriating, to say the least. While Kiba was busy pretending to have short-term memory loss and Kankuro was busy deftly avoiding him, Naruto was busy being  _confused_   _as fuck_. So this was how it would be then? This was just another secret that Naruto wasn't in on to add to the pile. It revolved around him _,_  for fuck's sake. Did he not have a right to know what had happened? Did Kankuro think it was  _his_  secret to keep? Because it sure as hell wasn't! Naruto had a right to know who had attacked him and why. He had a right to know what had happened in his own home. Like why there was blood all over his wall, for example. Yet, here he was, as clueless as always.

As the week progressed and his frustrations reached a high, Naruto decided to avoid Sasuke in all of his classes. For one thing, his shitty attitude only made Naruto's already shitty attitude even shittier. If Sasuke didn't want to be next to Naruto, then why should Naruto force him to? Not to mention, Naruto was pretty sure that his best chances at being "close" to Sasuke didn't lie in forcing the guy to endure his presence unwillingly anyway. Sasuke would have to seek Naruto out himself, if he ever wanted to.

Sasuke wasn't seeking Naruto out though. He didn't seem at all concerned with Naruto's decision to give him space. That, honestly, annoyed Naruto severely, but he made no declaration of that fact. Just because he seemed to have developed some very,  _very_  strange crush on the bastard didn't mean that Sasuke was obligated to feel the same. Naruto already knew this, but that didn't make it any less annoying. And confusing too. Naruto had never been faced with unrequited whatever-this-feeling-for-Sasuke-was in his life before. He hadn't pursued many people at all, to be honest. When he did, though, he had never been turned down. People tended to like him, but Sasuke was doing just the opposite.

Naruto didn't even know what he wanted from Sasuke. Sure, he was trying to score, but score  _what_? Did he really like Sasuke? Did he really, really  _like_  Sasuke? Or was he just using that as an excuse to shrug off the guilt of prying into Sasuke's personal life? Questions. Questions. Questions. They were fucking annoying. Fuck questions. Fuck everything complicated. Just fuck. It was more important to help Kiba out anyway, and that was a fairly simple plan. He would need Sasuke happy for that to happen, and if avoiding Sasuke made him happy enough to agree to the plan, then what the fuck ever.

It took some conniving, but Naruto eventually conned Deidara into spilling the beans about Sasuke's address. Naruto had been quite surprised to find that Sasuke only lived down the block and around the corner from him. How had he never known? Despite having the information, Naruto chose to let their second week of classes ride out in relative peace too. His wounds were getting slightly better. They'd at least stopped bleeding and causing him immeasurable pain. His attitude was also improving, even if Kankuro was still "missing" and Kiba was still "ignorant". Naruto decided to stop pestering Kiba about it though, because Kiba was getting more and more antisocial by the hour and Naruto didn't want to disregard his friend's pain. He could see that Gaara was stressing Kiba out more than ever and Naruto didn't want to be adding to the load, even if he  _did_  deserve answers.

He spent the next weekend hanging out with his new friends in one big group, a group that Kiba was predictably absent from, and easing back into a comfortable groove. It was Kiba's absence from that group and his growing inability to regain his own groove that pushed Naruto to decide that he could wait no longer to intervene. So it was on Wednesday of the third week that Naruto chose to finally approach Sasuke. It was a day on which he only had one class with Sasuke, and fortunately Sasuke seemed to be in a pretty good mood. He was talking happily with a cute girl and that was good, not that Sasuke looking so smitten with someone else made Naruto want to use the word "good". Sasuke did look content though, and that gave Naruto much better odds of getting a green light on the plan, even if he had to endure this bimbo moving in on his territory. Not that Naruto was saying that Sasuke was  _his_  or anything! Because Sasuke clearly wasn't... not at all... even if Naruto  _did_  kind of feel that way...

In any case, what happened next between the pair, Naruto had definitely not been prepared for.

**~ ( >^.^)> <(^.^<) ~**

Sasuke opened his mouth wide, swiping his tongue across tan skin as he prepared to sink his fangs into the supple flesh beneath his lips. The young blonde let out an enthralled gasp, and then an uninvited voice rang out into the room.

"Sasuke!"

Sasuke snapped to attention, his head popping up and his eyes landing on the unexpected intruder. The territorial hiss that erupted from his throat was paired with a quieter, much less bestial one that just as effectively detailed his bed partner's disappointment. As he recognized the person standing at the foot of his bed, eyes wide with disbelief, Sasuke's muscles relaxed and his own eyes softened a tad—not that this particular intruder was welcomed at the moment, but Sasuke wasn't entirely opposed to their presence either. Had it been anyone else, Sasuke may have just ripped their head off. However, this wasn't just any intruder. Though he would never admit it out loud, this was, perhaps, the one person in the world that Sasuke was actually willing to stop and indulge in, even when he was in the middle of a rather erotic scene with a rather attractive blonde that he had been  _dying_  to sink his teeth into for far too long.

"What are you doing?!" Naruto went on to exclaim.

Good question. Women had never been Sasuke's type, but then he'd never really tried them out either. For some odd reason, he'd been drawn to new things lately. She'd been giving him eyes since the first day of school, and he could sense that she was like him. So he figured why not give her a try? Once he'd gotten her into his bed, he realized just how intriguing women's bodies were and he was shocked to find that it wasn't all that hard to react. So what was he doing? Discovering a whole new part of himself that he'd never even known. And, damn, it was exciting. He wasn't very well going to say that to Naruto though. Instead, he lifted his body away from the woman settled beneath him. His eyes flickered between his hand, which lay on top of the woman's bra that still covered her breasts, and Naruto's shocked orbs a few times to enhance the dramatic effect, wanting to make Naruto feel like a complete and total fool.

"I should think that's pretty obvious," Sasuke said at last.

"Wh… Wh… Wh…" Naruto stammered, the two letters never finding their missing syllables and coming out as soft whooshing sounds as his face crumpled into absolute confusion.

"What, dobe?" Sasuke asked, sounding positively bored.

"Don't call me that," Naruto said agitatedly.

"Alright…  _dobe_ …"

Naruto's eyes narrowed in distaste, distaste that was quickly overshadowed by shock at what he was seeing again.

"I… You… What…" He fell back to stammering.

"Did you come here just to blubber like an idiot? Because, in case you haven't noticed, you're interrupting a very private moment here," Sasuke interjected with a quirk of his brow.

"You were gonna bite her!" Naruto exclaimed, pointing a finger at the woman he'd seen Sasuke conversing happily with in class.

The woman narrowed her eyes at Naruto and scoffed. Naruto was shocked that she didn't feel inclined to run and disappear. Then again, she may not have actually known that Sasuke was a vampire who was just about to  _bite_  her and  _suck her blood_. Just because Naruto knew didn't mean that everyone knew. No, she probably had no clue. Still, shouldn't she have  _some_  sort of instinct to flee from the greedy hands of such a predator? Her obvious desire to stay only made Naruto's mission of rescuing her more pertinent.

"Yes, yes, yes," Sasuke drawled in that bored tone again. "Yet another very obvious point that everyone is already quite aware of."

"You were gonna bite her!" Naruto repeated loudly, as if the words would sink in any minute and then Sasuke would be suddenly regretful.

Sasuke merely snorted with sarcastic laughter though. "That  _is_  what vampires do, dobe. They bite people," Sasuke said slowly, clearly meaning to antagonize the blond.

Had Naruto not been struck with such a clever retort, he would have looked earnestly to the woman, expecting her to show understanding and begin the flee for her life. And he would have seen her true reaction, an absolute lack of change in her demeanor. She still had no intention of fleeing. She knew very well what Sasuke was and she was not afraid. If anything, she was pissed off that Naruto had interrupted their good time. However, Naruto was struck with the come back of a genius and none of that stuff mattered to him.

"No," Naruto refuted quickly, "that's what  _leeches_  do."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes dangerously and Naruto thought that he heard another reproachful hiss, but he didn't see how Sasuke could have made the sound, unless he had mastered the art of ventriloquism. Sasuke only glared at Naruto, clenching and unclenching his jaw as he seethed. Naruto could tell that Sasuke was repeatedly retracting his unruly fangs, probably trying to drive the desire to bite from his mind. Naruto wanted to go on taunting Sasuke because he was just glad that something was breaking him out of that infuriatingly cool visage. Perhaps it would even be enough to spare this girl some serious trouble. But, at the same time, the connotation of the word "leech" was so heavily cruel that he couldn't make himself say it again. He remembered the look on Kiba's face when Gaara had used that term against Sasuke so many weeks ago, and he couldn't imagine how sharply Kiba would react if he heard Naruto doing the same. One taunt ended being all it took anyway.

"Rose," Sasuke said, his voice crisp but quiet, "I must beg your pardon."

He didn't look at the woman when she huffed loudly, but Naruto did. Was he hearing correctly? Was that a  _huff_? Like one of Kiba's huffs? It sure was. How could she still be disappointed when she had just been relieved from the impending doom of a vampire bite? After a moment of indignation, Rose crawled from the bed and put on her shirt, for that was the only article of her clothing that was missing. In a last attempt to seemingly drive Sasuke into jealousy and earn a spot back in his bed, the girl paused in passing and caressed Naruto's face gently, appraising him with hungry eyes.

"Well, can't I at least have a bite off of this one, Sasuke?" she asked sensually. "He's so cute."

With those words, her upper lip revealed just the tips of her own dangerous fangs, and Naruto immediately felt like a total fool. She was no unsuspecting victim.

Sasuke closed his eyes in frustration before he snarled at Rose, "No. Leave."

She threw him a last dirty glance, but his eyes were still closed. Then, she marched off to the door, gliding faster than any normal person ought to move. Naruto watched her all the way. When she reached the door, she looked back at him ruefully before leaving.

Naruto turned back to Sasuke. "She's not human," he said apologetically.

He didn't really feel apologetic at all though. If anything, he felt triumphant. He was glad that Sasuke's bed was now empty and that he wasn't with that woman anymore. He attributed that to his weird crush on Sasuke, the crush he'd been pretty effectively ignoring. He faintly wondered why he still had that weird crush on Sasuke. Was it not plain and obvious that it made  _no sense at all_? The crush, however, seemed to remain and Naruto was left feeling a bit giddy as a direct result of Rose's departure. If Sasuke picked up on that giddiness, though, then he didn't show it. He opened his eyes and shifted his position on his bed so that he sat lazily with his back against the headboard, looking dispassionately at the blond before him.

"You have a bad habit of stating the obvious, dobe," Sasuke said dully.

"Don't call me that," Naruto demanded, anger flaring up momentarily.

"Whatever you say, dobe. Your wish is my command," Sasuke said menacingly. "What do you want?"

Naruto remembered again why he had come in the first place. He sat down at the edge of Sasuke's bed, glad that it was now him occupying it, and another round of giddiness surged through him. Naruto watched Sasuke's eyes follow every movement that he made as he moved. The attention made Naruto almost blush. He'd kind of forgotten just how attractive Sasuke was up close like this, especially without a shirt. Having him watch Naruto so intently made Naruto feel extremely nervous, for it felt as if Sasuke could see right through Naruto and into his deepest desires. In truth, Naruto hadn't  _forgotten_  how Sasuke made him feel. He'd just purposely pushed it from his mind. He didn't want to be attracted to Sasuke when his personality was so absolutely repelling. Naruto tried to flush the blush from his cheeks, but that only served to deepen it. Sasuke was definitely picking up on that too because his lips curved up into a tiny smirk of arrogance.

"I've come to ask you a favor," Naruto began in a very business-like tone, pausing for acknowledgement.

Sasuke watched Naruto closely for a long moment, seemingly just for sport. Watching Naruto blush beneath his gaze was amusing to Sasuke, so he dragged the silence out painfully before answering. "I'm curious," he said quietly, permitting Naruto to continue.

"Will you accompany me on an outing this weekend?" Naruto asked slowly. "Please," he added as a hurried afterthought, as if being polite would have any effect on Sasuke.

"A date?" Sasuke questioned immediately, almost sharply.

"I suppose," Naruto answered quietly.

Hearing Sasuke say the word "date" in relation to Naruto himself made Naruto's blush deepen to no end. His heart beat a little faster and he was sure that Sasuke would pick it up. His lips trembled slightly and he saw Sasuke's eyes dart to the movement. His fingers twitched, and then Sasuke's eyes were snapping to take in that movement too. Then, Sasuke laughed a dark, goading laugh that mocked Naruto on the spot, a laugh that did not mesh with his behavior at all. Naruto had actually thought that Sasuke was  _appreciating_  him for a moment there. The look in his eyes as he studied Naruto's movement a moment ago was not critical. It was... intrigued. It certainly did  _not_  lead Naruto to believe that Sasuke would erupt into such offensive laughter, laughter that left Naruto feeling deeply annoyed.

"No thanks," Sasuke said as his laughter ebbed, much to Naruto's dismay.

"It's to benefit your friends, actually," Naruto began to argue.

"In that case, no fucking way," Sasuke added with disdain.

Naruto looked personally offended, but when it came to Kiba, it  _felt_  personal. "Kiba and Gaara are in a rough patch and they could use our help. Their relationship is kinda suffering, Sasuke," he said severely in the fashion of scolding a child.

"All the better," Sasuke said. He sneered dismissively.

"How can you say that?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"I can say it because it's the truth," Sasuke answered indifferently. "Their relationship isn't meant to be."

"But it  _is_  being and it's suffering too," Naruto argued.

"And I don't care if it does," Sasuke retorted matter-of-factly. Naruto huffed in exasperation and disbelief. How could Sasuke say such things?! Sasuke could read Naruto easily, and he sighed heavily before continuing to explain himself. "Very few humans mingle in my world, Naruto, and those that do either change or are claimed like Kiba. I do not believe in feeders. I won't treat humans as cattle. I value life a fair bit more than that."

The explanation was actually rather noble, so Naruto found it hard to refute. "But they're your friends,  _family_ ," he said weakly, thinking himself that it was a feeble attempt and that Sasuke would think so too.

"And it's for that reason that I don't support them," Sasuke said plainly. "In this world, there are few fates for a feeder. They'll grow tired of being dined upon. If they don't grow tired, they'll be changed. If they aren't changed, they'll die. It's as simple as that. Does any of that sound pleasant to you? Tired, monstrous, or dead?" Sasuke paused, but Naruto knew it wasn't to await an answer. The answer to that was obvious. The way Sasuke said it, it didn't sound like a very healthy relationship, Naruto had to admit.

"Believe it or not, I do have feelings and I do feel them for those around me," Sasuke went on. "Gaara is tortured by his mistakes. He took in his father's teachings as much as I did. He sees that Kiba is suffering. I'm sorry that it took so many wasted years for them to understand, but I'm not sorry that it's happening now. It is as it should be."

Naruto regarded Sasuke for a long moment before speaking, not even really aware of what he was saying or why he was saying it but certain that it was true and the right thing to say.

"I think you're just afraid," Naruto said. Sasuke's expression morphed into one of appall, but he said nothing. "I think that… well… Gaara said it himself. You need someone as light as Kiba too. Where you're dark, cold, and empty... Kiba is warm, lively, bright. Kiba perfectly counteracts you, and maybe you're jealous that Gaara has that when you don't." Naruto spoke pensively, as if just discovering this news himself.

Sasuke's entire demeanor hardened significantly. "I've had that bright light you speak of, and it did nothing for me," he assured curtly.

"You don't wanna lose Kiba," Naruto pressed on. Sasuke began to clench and unclench his jaw repeatedly again. "He told me about your relationship. I know you're brothers. He's always brought you so much joy, hasn't he? What you wanted was always given to you through him, as small as it all seemed. It was always better than nothing, though, right? By association, you're uplifted by Kiba's spirit. You wanna protect him because he means so much to you."

"Enough," Sasuke growled. "You don't know what you're talking about. Kiba was never my light. Kiba was just another addition to the family, and he will be just another statistic in the books when he dies."

"Is that what you want?" Naruto asked. "You want him to die?"

" _I'm_  the one fighting  _against_  that!" Sasuke snapped. "I'm the only one advocating against the fate that will, without a doubt, be brought on by Gaara, the guy who drinks human blood for  _pleasure_."

Naruto was at a loss for words. That was a solid point. Sasuke did have Naruto there. Gaara was dangerous and there was no fighting that fact. In fact, Naruto wasn't sure where else he could even go with that point, so he went off on another tangent that he hoped to have better luck with... not that he knew what he was saying with this point either.

"When you look at Kiba, do you see your mother?" he asked daringly, not really considering how tender the territory he was stepping into could be. Sasuke didn't respond, probably cause of shock, but the way his body tensed was answer enough for Naruto. "You do, don't you? That's why you hate feeders. Because your own mother died as one."

Sasuke's eyes glinted dangerously. Naruto had no clue what he was talking about. He had no clue who had actually taken Sasuke's light so many years ago. He had no idea just how little Sasuke's mother or even Kiba had to do with it, not that they both didn't have something to do with it. Either way, Sasuke didn't want to hear Naruto prattle on about shit that he wasn't even qualified to speak of. At the same time, though, he couldn't quite bring himself to interrupt.

"You crave that connection, but you fear it more," Naruto conjectured. "You fear the chance of mishaps, slip ups, deadly mistakes. More than that though, you fear the love. Because if you were to embrace love, you'd be too close to loss. You don't think you can handle much more loss, do you?" Naruto asked. Perhaps, this would have  _nothing_  to do with convincing Sasuke to go on the "date", but Naruto wanted to follow up with it anyway.

"You've gone too far," Sasuke said stiffly, turning his head away. He had to admit it to himself though, Naruto had gotten somewhere with that.

"Actually, I don't think I've gone far enough," Naruto disagreed. "You're afraid, Sasuke, and so you watch your best friend and brother with a mixture of envy and terror. You don't know what the fuck to do with yourself, so you just go on about abominations and the natural order of things. Maybe it's time you look at things from a different point of view. I'll bet your support would be enough to grant Gaara a change of heart." Naruto was starting to get excited. It was all tying together now. He was making his point. "I'll bet your support would be the one thing that they needed to do it  _right_. If you could just—"

"Shut up!" Sasuke suddenly snapped.

Naruto's breath caught in his throat for a long moment as he debated whether or not he should go on. Eventually, he just sighed and averted his eyes. He was aching to press on, but he decided better of it. Sasuke wasn't clenching his jaw any longer, so his fangs were likely bared and ready to attack. It'd be best not to antagonize him too much. He had only  _just_  left his life as a leech. Who was to say he wouldn't bite Naruto right then and there?

Naruto had started that whole pitch with no direction. Yet, he had ended it with some weird, new understanding. Sasuke was just scared. That was all. That was why he couldn't support Kiba and Gaara, and his mother, certainly, had a lot to do with that. Well, after what had happened to her, it wouldn't be easy to support your stepbrother, whom you had allegedly been very close to at one point, in offering himself up to the same dangers. Sasuke was afraid that Kiba would become his mother and maybe even that he himself would become his father. It was all so obvious to Naruto now. The name Ren popped up in his head and Naruto wondered where she came in, whoever she was. That was better left to another day though. Naruto wasn't sure that Sasuke would endure much more of this.

Naruto looked back over at Sasuke, who was silently trying to burn holes in his blanket with his glare. Even as Naruto watched Sasuke seethe, he felt closer to the man. Naruto knew that his words were right. He could feel the longing within Sasuke that Sasuke tried so hard to suppress. He could see the way that the memory of Sasuke's mother pained him, along with other memories that Naruto may have dredged up and just not yet been exposed to. He could see how there was so much more left yet to unsheathe, and he was eager to uncover it all, even if that was a selfish desire. He was eager to immerse Sasuke in his own stifling pain just so that Naruto could soothe it, just so that Sasuke would be forced to allow the blond to love him.

Was that what Naruto wanted? To love Sasuke? He didn't know. He  _did_ , however, know that he wanted to reach out and touch Sasuke, to comfort him. Before he knew it was even moving, his hand found its way to the pale skin of Sasuke's bare chest. When Sasuke's eyes snapped furiously to the contact, Naruto's followed. Naruto swallowed hard, an action he regretted immediately. He had learned that such actions during tense times near a vampire were reckless, only serving to further tempt them to pounce.

Naruto removed his hand very slowly from its position and tried very hard to keep from meeting Sasuke's eyes. Had he, though, he would have seen a suspicious lack of rage. Alas, Naruto was careful to avoid those eyes, lest they be a threatening shade of crimson. He wondered what the fuck he was thinking and admonished himself internally. How had he gotten so carried away that he thought it a decent idea to  _touch_  Sasuke like that? It was just stupid!

"I just want you to come with me on Saturday," Naruto said quietly, staring intently at the desk beside Sasuke's bed.

When he could no longer feel Sasuke's eyes on him, Naruto chanced a glance at the man's face. Sasuke was staring at his phone on the desk. Naruto reached for it impulsively, bringing it back to his body with a jerk when Sasuke hissed loudly at him. Naruto realized immediately, though, that Sasuke's lips revealed a lack of fangs. It was an empty hiss. Sasuke's eyes lacked any and every shade of red too. A tiny smile played at Naruto's lips. Sasuke was just acting.

"Y'know," Naruto began softly, "when I saw Gaara first bite Kiba, I thought he was a monster." Sasuke's eyes flitted to Naruto's. "I was wrong," Naruto said. "I was just looking at Gaara. He's just lost and struggling to find his way back to the rest of us, to humanity. And when I look at you, I see that too."

Sasuke snorted dismissively and averted his eyes again. "He's far from human," he said almost sadly. "I am too. We all are."

"But you can feel, can't you?" Naruto argued earnestly. "You can taste. You can perish, die. You can suffer and cry. That all sounds rather human to me."

"I don't expected you to understand," Sasuke said tightly. "You've never taken a life simply to quench a thirst. There's no humanity in that."

Naruto paused and then looked down at the phone in his hands, unlocking the screen and keying his number into the dial pad and clicking around to save it as a contact. "If you think you've found a bit of that humanity you claim to be lacking lingering long enough to endure a night out on the town with your friends," Naruto looked up and smiled softly. "—let me know," he finished, tossing the phone in Sasuke's lap and standing to take his leave.

"While you're at it, you should have a nice thought or two about your mom," Naruto added over his shoulder as he descended the steps from Sasuke's room. "Think about how much she must have loved your father to live such a painful life," he went on, raising his voice slightly as he crossed the apartment floor. "She must have been brave."

"Or else simply delusional," Sasuke added just as Naruto lifted his hand to the knob of the door.

Naruto paused and turned back to see Sasuke leaning across his dresser and over the banister to regard Naruto eagerly. The look in his eye was... cute. It was the look that a child gets when promised a play date with their best friend.

"You think?" Naruto asked. Sasuke nodded, leaning back to appear more casual. "Eh," Naruto said with a shrug of the shoulders, "I say we're all a bit delusional. Look at us, for example. You're convinced that you're a monster and I'm convinced that you'll accompany me out on a date. The question isn't how delusional we are though. The question is how delusional you really think your mom was."

"Well," Sasuke began, raising an interested brow at Naruto's sudden strike of wisdom, "I think she was downright delirious."

"Maybe," Naruto said, shrugging. "Maybe not."

"It's  _my_  opinion, isn't it?" Sasuke pointed out flatly.

"Yeah," Naruto agreed.

"So why are you questioning it? How can you tell me that what I think is wrong?" Sasuke asked. "Unless you're just calling me a liar."

"I don't think you're a liar," Naruto assured. Sasuke smirked in what seemed to be triumph, and Naruto answered with a triumphant smirk of his own, "You're just delusional."

Naruto grinned widely as he opened the door. A glance back in leaving revealed Sasuke's true intrigue. The mere smirk on Sasuke's face morphed into a more prominent smile, which caused Naruto chuckle with pleasure as he took his final leave. He sighed contentedly as he strolled away. That was most definitely a success, whether Sasuke chose to come on the double date or not. If anything, Naruto had wormed his way, at least, a centimeter into that tightly-sealed heart. He was sure of it now, Sasuke would seek him. He just needed time.

_To be continued..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the link for Sasuke's apartment :) It's actually the same layout that I'm using in another fic. I just like it, so I might reuse it a lot whenever Sasuke isn't filthy rich. Whatevz.
> 
> i169.photobucket.com/albums/u226/RainbowsWorthRain/Fic-Related/Sasukesapt.png


	9. Battle Royale

Saturday couldn't arrive fast enough. Naruto was sick of Kiba's miserable attitude. Their friends were literally staging an intervention because they were so concerned about his behavior, or lack thereof actually. Kiba had pretty much been empty and emotionless, like a drone. Naruto had only put their friends' plan off by assuring them that he would take care of it himself. He swore that he'd had a plan to make Kiba feel better. All he needed was the weekend. Then, things would change. Naruto knew for a fact that he was walking a dangerous line though. Either the date with Gaara would take care of Kiba's depressed attitude, or it would do the exact opposite and knock him even further down. He had to take the chance though.

Naruto had planned for them all to go see a play being put on by the theater department on campus. Naruto knew that Kiba was a fan of theater and that Gaara wasn't opposed, only because Kiba had dragged him along to so many shows that he'd just grown accustomed to it. As for Sasuke, Naruto had no clue at all what the bastard liked. The night wasn't about Sasuke though, so his opinion didn't really matter. Hell, it was such a shock that he even showed up in the first place that Naruto had no time to worry about accommodating him anyway. Fortunately, they'd all made it through the show without any real hiccups. Naruto supposed he owed that good fortune to the fact that there wasn't much time for awkwardness with something so demanding of one's attention.

There was even a short while directly after the play when everything seemed to be back as it used to be, the only exception being that Sasuke didn't absolutely hate Naruto. In fact, Sasuke chose to actually smile, and  _dear god_  what a beautiful smile it was. In any case, Gaara had commented on how bad he thought the play was. Kiba, much to Naruto's surprise, hastily agreed with Gaara, like he didn't love theater as much as everyone knew he did. He claimed that he had only sat through it because its atrocity was sickeningly intriguing. Of course, anyone with half a brain could tell that Kiba's excuse was bullshit. He really just wanted to be next to Gaara, and everyone knew it. He literally must not have taken his eyes off of the redhead for more than a minute at a time during the entire show.

They continued to make snide remarks about the play anyway as the foursome made their leisurely way down the block for something to eat, as was agreed upon at the start of the evening. Naruto had forced everyone to comply to,  _at least_ , that much. Sasuke smiled through the entire walk, despite how opposed he was to the whole idea in the first place. He actually seemed to be enjoying himself. Dinner had gone along well enough too. Small chit-chat kept them just barely afloat. It did, inevitably, die out completely though. Naruto was under the impression that a few casual drinks would make a difference in the outcome of the, so far, useless evening, as if a few beers would magically bring Kiba and Gaara back together. His three companions had only agreed to go for drinks at Akatsake because no one could find it within themselves to say no to Naruto's eager face, not that Kiba had wanted to. He was perfectly fine with more time in Gaara's company, no matter how awkward it might turn out to be. Gaara, however, didn't want to go at all. Naruto was still his friend on some level though, and it was hard to say no when the blond used those blue orbs to his advantage.

Sasuke didn't have much of a reason to stay at all. It wouldn't have been so hard for him to turn Naruto down. Sasuke could simply have left just because he wanted to. Then again, it wouldn't have been so hard for him to turn Naruto down a couple of days ago in his apartment either. Yet, he'd still shown up, hadn't he? He convinced himself that it wasn't  _Naruto_ that had caused him to show up. It was the _conversation with Naruto_  that had convinced him to join in on the date. It was that interesting exchange that they'd shared in his apartment a couple days prior. Naruto had been intriguing, and that piqued Sasuke's curiosity.

Sasuke had come on the date only because he'd decided to humor Naruto's taunt that he was simply delusional. If he was delusional, then his desire to  _avoid_  the situation meant that he should actually  _attend_. Why Sasuke let such twisted logic influence him, he couldn't tell you. He was there, however, and inexplicably unwilling to walk away from his three friends, if he could even call them that. It had nothing to do with Naruto or his eyes though, even if they were big, blue, pleading pools of beauty. No! Naruto's beautiful eyes held absolutely no power over Sasuke, none at all. Just like they had held no power over him a few nights ago in his apartment. Sasuke came because he  _wanted_  to come, not because Naruto had asked him to. Just like he was going to go to Akatsake because he  _wanted_  to. It was his decision to explore his alleged "delusional" self. That was all, and so the foursome found themselves walking through the familiar corridor that lead to Itachi's bar.

Akatsake was relatively dead, much to Naruto's relief. Had any ballsy vamps picked up on the tension between the foursome, they may have been compelled to have a go at Naruto or Kiba. With Gaara looking so uninterested in being there, let alone what happened to his human companions, it could have been dangerous to sit in the middle of a crowded vamp bar. Sasuke was no help either, for he'd, apparently, gotten very drunk very quick. He'd announced that he needed to use the restroom half an hour earlier and been gone ever since, so the trio sat quietly at their table with Kiba glancing periodically to Gaara, Gaara glaring pointedly at his beer bottle, and Naruto shooting relentless stares between the two. All the while, Naruto obsessed over Sasuke's prolonged absence.

It wasn't very late, but people were slowly leaving the bar. Naruto mused that, perhaps, everyone was picking up on the tense air at his table and that, rather than an open invitation for a free meal, they were just a buzz kill. Everyone seemed content to leave them the hell alone. Naruto heaved the heaviest, most relieved sigh that he had ever heaved in his entire life when he saw Sasuke returning to the table. Kiba couldn't even tear his attention from Gaara long enough to notice, but Gaara didn't look particularly glad to see Sasuke return. Naruto, on the other hand, was positively ecstatic. At least Sasuke's drunken state would give them something else to focus on. The tension in the air between them was so stiflingly palpable that it was almost painful.

Sasuke stumbled quite precariously toward the trio, hissing violently at a young woman when she tried to catch him and help him regain his balance. Despite his clear drunkenness, he was still extremely agile. Every misjudged step was quickly recovered. Every stagger that threatened to topple him was flawlessly avoided by him catching on to something and righting himself gracefully. Nonetheless, Naruto tensed up in anxiety with every sway. Naruto wasn't sure why he was so concerned about Sasuke falling and possibly hurting himself. For one, Sasuke was the epitome of poise, even when drunk, apparently. Secondly, Sasuke was kind of a total dick, and Naruto was positive that his strange crush should have been thoroughly crushed by now.

When Naruto went to Sasuke's apartment to seek his help on this date, he hadn't felt even an inkling of romantic feeling for the asshole... or any good feeling at all, really. That was definitely thanks to Sasuke's impossibly worsening attitude. Ever since those first couple days of class, Sasuke had been even more of a fuck than Naruto had ever thought possible. However, a familiar magnetic pull popped up again that very same evening during their talk about delusions, despite Naruto's better judgement.

It was tiny, just like before, only ever making its presence known when Sasuke was close. It hadn't been enough to compel Naruto to reclaim a seat beside Sasuke in any of their shared classes. It was enough, however, to make him sit somewhat closer and stare longer. It was enough to make him feel rather uncomfortable, because he didn't want to feel drawn to the prick. There Naruto was anyway though, feeling, yet again, drawn to Sasuke. He wouldn't exactly call it a liking, because he didn't really  _like_  Sasuke at all. It was just some sort of force forbidding him to stray too far. It was like some kind of gravity convincing Naruto that it felt right to orbit the son of a bitch. Honestly, as much as it disturbed him, Naruto had to remind himself more than once already that it wasn't  _his_  date. It was Kiba and Gaara's. He really had to do something about his googly eyes. They kept seeking some kind of sensitivity in Sasuke that Naruto wasn't even sure actually existed.

When Sasuke finally reached the table, it was with the biggest grin plastered across his face and not without Itachi's disapproving glares at the back of his head. Naruto wondered about why Itachi seemed to disapprove so much of Sasuke drinking. Itachi did own a bar. Would he really be that hypocritical? Naruto also wondered about how Sasuke could get so drunk so easily. Sasuke hadn't drunk that much. It would've been enough to give Naruto a really decent buzz, but Naruto didn't think that alcohol could affect vampires in the same way as humans, or at least not as easily. Yet, Sasuke was acting so goddamn euphoric, like he just couldn't be happier. Maybe that was it. Maybe Sasuke really was just happy and that magnified his buzz to such an effect. Maybe it was—

Sasuke sighed heavily, smiling dumbly at everyone at the table in turns and instantly commanding the entirety of Naruto's attention span again. That beautiful smile, it was like a giant spotlight to Naruto. It was impossible not to look when it was flashed. The only people who were still in the bar by that point were a few odd vamps along with Temari and Deidara. Deidara was sitting up at the bar, keeping Itachi company as the latter cleaned. Temari sat solo on stage, singing girly songs that everyone tried to ignore. She appeared to be pretty drunk herself.

Gaara finally gave in to his curiosity and asked Sasuke, "What are you grinning about?" Although, he already had a good idea of why Sasuke looked so damn happy.

"I love this song!" Sasuke exclaimed, only slightly slurring his words.

Kiba suppressed a laugh and Naruto stared on in amazed amusement. Sasuke had, somehow, gotten even drunker since his leave. He had to be commended on his speech though. The fact that he was still speaking so coherently was amazing to Naruto.

"Maze me wanna dance," Sasuke added. His lids slid dangerously low and his body swayed precariously on his stool to the beat.

Naruto found it impossible to not be entranced by the man before him. The way Sasuke's half-lidded eyes pierced their target, they way his body swayed like a perfectly organized orchestra, the way his tongue rolled with every lyric he sang, the way he just simply existed just then while looking so goddamn sexy, it all had to be a fucking sin. How could anyone ever focus on anything other than this beautiful creature?

When Naruto felt a little too much blood rushing to his nether regions, he turned away quickly and tried to suppress a blush. He tried, in vain, to focus on something else and it ended up taking a few agonizingly long moments for him to come up with a distracting topic. When he did, though, he jumped at the chance to pursue it. He took this time as an opportunity to edge a private word in with Kiba, as Sasuke was distracted with singing along to Temari's song—in a very sexy manner, of course—and Gaara was busy staring daggers at the former.

"Kiba?" Naruto whispered quietly, leaning in toward his friend. Kiba responded by leaning back toward Naruto. "Iwannaearbouren," Naruto said quickly, deciding that it was best to get it out in a rush.

"I didn't catch any of that," Kiba replied with an amused chuckle.

Naruto cleared his throat quietly. "I wanna hear about Ren," he repeated a bit slower and more cautiously.

"What?!" Kiba snapped, glancing over nervously to see if Sasuke had heard. "I thought I told you—"

"I know," Naruto whined, "but I'm so curious."

"You should ask Sasuke about it, not me," Kiba said firmly, turning very serious eyes back to his friend. "It's his story to tell, Naruto, and no one else's."

"Just give me a couple things to get started on," Naruto pleaded. "If I have somewhere to start, maybe it'll pressure him into elaborating." Naruto instantly grimaced at his choice of words. Pressure? He didn't want to pressure Sasuke. He would never want to  _pressure_  Sasuke. If he was to share something so personal with Sasuke, he wanted it to be voluntary. Well, that, of course, only reinforced Kiba's demand for Naruto to simply ask Sasuke. Naruto felt the need to defend himself and justify his actions, in hopes that it would make himself feel less guilty.

"I'm curious though!" Naruto began to explain, more for his own benefit than for Kiba's. "If you told me just a few things, then I could use that to gently  _nudge_  Sasuke to talk. Yeah, that's all." Naruto nodded certainly. "Gentle,  _very gentle,_  nudging. No pressure at all. You just have to give me some sorta leverage." Naruto grimaced again. The word "leverage" sounded so horrible. He didn't want to sound forceful. Again, it was supposed to be voluntary. Naruto couldn't just  _ask_  Sasuke to talk to him though. Sasuke sort of hated him! Why couldn't Kiba understand that?

"I don't think I  _can_  talk to him," Naruto admitted quietly. He spared a glance at Sasuke, who was at the peak of a rather precarious sway. Gravity threatened to knock him off his stool.

"Whoa there, buddy!" Naruto exclaimed, snapping forward and catching Sasuke by the arm to right him again. Sasuke flashed a satisfied smile that everyone but Gaara completely missed. "Don't want you to topple over there, do we?" Naruto added lightly with a grin. He couldn't help how warm it made him feel to know that, perhaps, Sasuke needed his help, even if it was in such an insignificant way as this.

Gaara was not fooled by the act though. Sasuke's total number of beers would never get him to  _any_  level of drunk. Not only did Sasuke have a high tolerance for alcohol, but vampires weren't so easily affected by it. It often took a long time to kick in because it always took its time to dull their thirst before it ever even started going to their heads like that. Sasuke, of course, could have been drunk. If he was though, it was definitely not to that degree.

If he was drunk on anything, it wasn't alcohol. Gaara was sure that he would have smelled blood on Sasuke if he'd gone off and fed though. Of course, it didn't have to be  _blood_  that was affecting Sasuke. Hell, for all Gaara knew, Sasuke wasn't affected by anything at all. He could have been entirely sober and just pretending. While Sasuke was sneaky, he wasn't sneaky enough. Gaara might have been confused by Sasuke's act but, judging by his glares, Itachi wasn't fooled at all. That alone was enough to fuel Gaara's suspicions. None of that seemed to bother Sasuke though, because he wasn't afraid to spare a few arrogant smirks for Gaara.

Naruto and Kiba may have been none the wiser, but Gaara could see a scheme gleaming in Sasuke's eyes. His glare intensified as he tried to tap into Sasuke's emotions. He was met with an iron wall though. Sasuke was, after all, the king of guarded emotions. It wasn't that he never allowed himself to feel anything. He truly didn't mind allowing other vampires to have access to his feelings. It was just the vulnerable ones that he minded, and those were the ones that no one ever found because those were the ones that Sasuke kept a tight grip on. He made no effort to stifle any anger, displeasure, or smugness. That was all fine to share. If anything, purposely projecting those types of emotions intensely enough so that other vampires would pick up on them bluntly often benefited him in the end.

However, he had absolutely no problem shutting down completely, and often times he would. Wiping himself completely blank and becoming devoid of any emotion whatsoever was easy for Sasuke. It was as if his humanity had a switch, and it was off 70 percent of the time. The remaining 30 percent was spent feeling emotions that no one close to him, like Gaara or Itachi, particularly cared to pick up on. They were often searching for something to prove that Sasuke was still somewhat who he had used to be before he adopted such a hardened shell of himself. At this particular moment though, Gaara met an impenetrable defense. All he got was an aura of arrogance, and that was infuriating.

"The thing is," Naruto went on, resuming his quiet conversation with Kiba but still keeping a wary, and slightly admiring, eye on Sasuke, "I don't think he'll ever really talk to me about anything. I wish he would. I really, really do," A tiny grimace surfaced. "—but I don't think how I feel really matters to him... at all." Naruto looked back to Kiba with saddened eyes. "It was trouble enough getting him out tonight, and I spent that whole conversation pretty much talking to myself. He hates me," Naruto said quietly, down-casting his eyes and feeling an even more prominent grimace claim his composure. "—no matter how hard I try to change that."

Kiba couldn't help but smirk at Naruto. There was something much deeper and much more honest than curiosity burning inside his blond friend. If Kiba dared to say so himself, Naruto liked Sasuke. Naruto didn't want facts about Sasuke. Naruto wanted a bond. Kiba knew, however, that such a bond would be a fruitless journey should Naruto be so hasty.

"I don't think it's a good idea to do this behind his back," Kiba said softly, hoping that the part of Naruto that ached for a  _true_  connection to Sasuke would push this ludicrous idea away. "I think it's better to let him get to it in his own time."

"He's drunk," Naruto said, waving a dismissive hand. "He hasn't got a clue what's going on. He might be more than willing to spill his guts."

Kiba raised an uncertain brow. Naruto must have been out of his mind. A drunk vampire was no less a vampire, especially when angered. Yeah, Sasuke might have been more than willing to spill his guts... or he might have been more than willing to spill  _their_  guts.

"But, Naruto," Kiba began, "I really think, if you just have some patience, he'll talk to you. He'll trust you, if you give it time."

"But I haven't got patience, Kiba," Naruto whined hurriedly, grabbing Sasuke's arm to keep him from falling backward off the stool again. He was still singing loudly—so loudly, in fact, that Temari kept a continuous thumbs up raised to him, glad that someone was appreciating her singing. "I've been thrown into this world where everything is so different. I'm just looking for some stability. I need to know some truth, something solid. I need to understand, Kiba," Naruto said urgently.

Kiba sighed, feeling bad for Naruto. "Well," he began slowly, "if anyone can get it out of him, it's me."

"Exactly!" Naruto agreed hopefully.

Kiba warily entertained the idea as he surveyed Naruto. Maybe Sasuke  _was_  drunk enough to comply. Then again, maybe he wasn't. If he wasn't, then he would be angry. He would never admit it—and maybe he wouldn't even let himself feel it—but he would be hurt too.

"If he doesn't play along nicely, he really  _will_  hate you," Kiba warned. "I don't think you understand just how touchy this subject is. I can't guarantee that he won't rip both our heads off."

"He's smashed," Naruto pointed out, though that much was obvious. "And alcohol takes the edge off, doesn't it?"

"It does," Kiba agreed. "Hopefully that'll keep him from wanting to rip our throats out."

"And, if not, Gaara will be able to protect our throats," Naruto added.

"Don't count on it," Gaara denied in a low voice. Both Naruto and Kiba startled at his interjection, feeling unnerved that he had overheard them but not truly surprised.

"It'll be fine," Naruto assured Kiba, though blindly. He had no idea how fine it would or would not be, but if saying such things would convince Kiba to play along, then Naruto didn't care. He'd say them.

"If you insist," Kiba said slowly, hoping very dearly that his blond friend would abandon the traitorous attempt. He was unfortunate though.

"I insist!" Naruto reassured, and his eyes lit up.

Kiba huffed quietly before sitting up straight again. He did not want to do it, not at all. He had a very bad feeling, but he figured that he would, at least, test the water out. "Sasuke?" he said warily to earn the man's attention.

Sasuke hiccuped loudly. "Wazzzup?" he answered happily.

"Definitely wasted," Kiba pointed out solemnly, dreading his attempt to betray Sasuke's trust, assuming he had ever truly had it to begin with.

"All the better," Naruto added quietly, obviously hoping that only Kiba would hear. He, of course, underestimated the senses of vampires, but neither one at the table made any indication that they had heard.

Sasuke continued to sway drunkenly, though now in silence, as he awaited Kiba's response. After a moment, he chuckled lightly, as if just then interpreting Kiba's words. "M'not as drunk as you think I am," he said, still swaying dramatically and waggling a finger in front of Kiba's face.

"Really?" Kiba questioned, snorting softly. Naruto gave Kiba a significant glare, and Kiba sighed heavily. When he looked back to Sasuke, he stared deeply into his eyes, wanting to be able to see and identify every emotion that would bubble up within them. After a small pause, Kiba went on. "Let's talk about Ren," he suggested.

"Hmm. She was funny, wasn' she?" Sasuke answered. "She definitely learned that from you, Kiba, but she was witty too. That was from me. S'what I think."

Sasuke kept up the slight drawl in his voice, even if whatever drunken edge he may or may not have had dissipated the second that Kiba uttered the name. He didn't seem at all perturbed by the topic though. His answer had been rather cheerful. However, Kiba saw something else entirely. He saw a flash of something that passed so quickly that it was unidentifiable. He was sure, though, that Sasuke had listened in on his entire conversation with Naruto. Sasuke had tempered himself. He had prepared for the moment when Kiba would pounce. He had doctored his response. Had he not, he never would have reacted so calmly to the name. He had faked it, and he had faked it too well for Kiba to keep up.

Gaara, on the other hand, had recognized the emotion immediately. He had been studying Sasuke like a damn book though, trying to get into his head and pick out his little scheme, whatever it was. That tiny flash of emotion was all that Gaara had needed to force him into an about-face. It caused him to physically turn his face away in something akin to shame. He didn't feel right looking on any longer. In fact, he tried very hard to ignore Sasuke's aura completely. He didn't want to feel any other emotions that might slip into it.

"Who was she?" Naruto asked, perhaps a bit too eagerly.

The emotion flared up again in Sasuke's eyes, and the mere moment longer which it lingered was all that Kiba needed for him to suddenly understand it completely. Had he been closer to his stepbrother or had that emotion not seemed so foreign in Sasuke's eyes, Kiba would have, certainly, gotten it the first time, despite how fleeting it had been. It seemed all too obvious now though. It was a familiar feeling for Kiba. It was sadness. Sasuke had sported many emotions in the past few years: anger, dread, and even guilt. He hadn't managed sadness though. It was far too intimate of a feeling for anyone to catch it meandering beyond Sasuke's tight defenses. None of the vampires surrounding him could ever pick that particular emotion up, not even when looking specifically for it or when Sasuke was unsuspecting and seemingly unguarded. Sasuke, of course, was never unguarded. It seemed that he simply had stopped feeling it, along with all other vulnerable emotions like love, joy, or loneliness.

Now, however, it was back, and Kiba had seen it. Despite the strain on their relationship, Kiba still loved Sasuke like a brother. He didn't want to see such a sadness in those eyes, as momentary as its stay was. Seeing it flash there only proved that Sasuke  _could_  feel it, and that meant that he  _was_  feeling it. He was feeling it all the time. He was just feeling it in silence. He felt it so discretely that no one could catch him red-handed. It wasn't gone. It was just masterfully hidden. That was painful knowledge to Kiba. Sasuke kept that emotion held so tightly against his chest that it must have been choking him. It must have been strangling him for years.

Kiba already felt bad for urging Naruto to pester Sasuke about Ren, but now he felt a million times worse. Ren was still a tender subject for Sasuke. Perhaps, it wasn't that Sasuke was unwilling to speak of her. Maybe it was that he couldn't. A need to protect Sasuke from Naruto's curiosity overwhelmed Kiba. He wouldn't watch Sasuke suffer, even if it appeared that Sasuke was doing no such thing. Kiba knew now. Kiba had seen. Sasuke was in pain, and Naruto was doing nothing to alleviate that.

No one spoke. Kiba knew that Sasuke wouldn't answer such a question so easily, and he himself was too wrapped up in Sasuke to have the wits to respond right away. Furthermore, Gaara wouldn't feel proper answering a question that wasn't his to answer. Ren wasn't really in his jurisdiction, especially not with both Kiba and Sasuke present. Not only that, but Gaara couldn't even find his voice. It had been years since he'd seen something so human touch Sasuke's eyes. He knew that Sasuke wouldn't respond well to pity or sympathy, but Gaara could offer nothing else to his lifelong best friend. Despite the dysfunctional nature of their relationship, Gaara loved Sasuke like a brother, just like Kiba did. He had the decency to pretend that the situation  _wasn't_  at hand. Ren was  _not_  the topic. Sasuke was  _not_  responding this way. Hell, Gaara would just pretend that he wasn't even there at all.

With everyone else so wrapped up in themselves, Naruto was the only one left capable of speaking, so speak he did. "Was she an old girlfriend or something?" he asked, pressing the topic further.

Gaara snorted lightly. As if  _Ren_  could be something so insignificant. However, no one answered again. Gaara seemed very interested in his beer bottle, Kiba couldn't tear his eyes from Sasuke, and Sasuke's mouth was pointedly glued shut. His eyes were as empty as they always were, but a deeper sense of vacancy seemed to fill them.

"Anyone gonna talk to me? I'm still here, ya know?" Naruto teased.

The statement was far from malicious and meant only to garner attention light-heartedly, but it rubbed Kiba entirely the wrong way. "You are the most selfish son of a bitch I have ever known," Kiba growled. He aimed an angry glare at Naruto, who held his breath in return. Naruto was speechless. Did Kiba just call him selfish? What the hell had Naruto done? The question in his eyes must have been evident, because Kiba went on. "Do you even stop to think about what everyone  _else_  is feeling? Or is it just all about you?"

The shock of such an ugly tone overtaking Kiba's typically pleasant voice wore off and Naruto jumped to his own defense. "I just wanna understand," he argued. "Where's the issue with that? I was thrown into a world that still makes very little sense to me. I didn't  _ask_  for this."

"And nobody  _asked_  you to stick your nose in," Kiba retorted.

"I didn't  _stick_  my nose in! My nose was shoved in!" Naruto argued, his voice raising loud enough to catch attention.

"Then get the fuck out!" Kiba argued even louder, pointing to the door but referring to his life in general. It needed no explaining, for Naruto caught the severity of the words from the severity of the glare he was receiving. He could do nothing more complex than gape at his friend.

Itachi recognized the aura emanating from Kiba immediately, so he bustled the stragglers from his bar. It wasn't often that his typically laid back and carefree stepbrother got so riled up. At least this brother still accepted him, so he would be there to support Kiba no matter what. Temari only agreed to get off stage and shut the fuck up when she caught wind of the tension in both Kiba and Naruto's auras. It took her less than a second to snap to suddenly very sober attention and flash from the stage to their table, instantly placing a reassuring hand on Kiba's shoulder. Deidara and Itachi moved over to listen in on the exchange themselves once the bar was completely empty.

"No one is begging you to stay where you so clearly don't wanna be!" Kiba exclaimed.

"Really?!" Naruto shot back, sounding thoroughly offended. Kiba huffed, his eyes filling with a daring glare. "Get out?" Naruto repeated after another stunned pause.

"Yeah!" Kiba snapped hurtfully, knowing somewhere deep down that he didn't truly mean it. The temporary anger in his chest convinced him otherwise though.

"You shoulda just let Sai sink his teeth in me then," Naruto replied, "since I mean so fucking  _little_  to you!"

Kiba snorted derisively. "Maybe I should have!" he retorted, standing up from his chair at the table and shrugging off Temari's comforting hand.

Naruto followed quickly in suit. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!" he shouted. "I've been tolerant as fuck, Kiba, and now all the sudden, I'm the spawn of the devil?! I don't understand!"

Kiba rolled his eyes. "You and your desperate _need to understand_!" Kiba spat scornfully, repeating the words as if they were disgusting.

"What the fuck is wrong with that?!" Naruto shouted back.

"What you need to do is understand your fucking self!" Kiba retorted. "Take one sec—"

"What I  _need_  to do is understand  _this_ , to understand Sasuke!" Naruto interrupted in an extra loud, extra passionate tone. He didn't care to address how normally embarrassed he would have felt at such an admission. "What?! Is it so wrong of me to wanna understand him?! Why can't I wanna be close to him?!" No one seemed particularly surprised by Naruto's words. They were all vampires, so they'd picked up that emotion countless times in Naruto. It was never all that hard to put two and two together.

"Maybe you can't!" Kiba shouted.

"Maybe I can!" Naruto argued. "If someone would just talk to—"

"Has it never dawned on you that, perhaps, those scars are just too great to reopen?!" Kiba cut in harshly. "Have you never cared to think that, perhaps, that name carries memories that nobody wants to revisit?! For all of us!" Kiba added, gesturing to everyone in his immediate surroundings.

"Of course I've thought that," Naruto replied, "but I just thought that someone would  _tell_  me if that was the case! Hell, up until now, you've been telling me to go to Sasuke about it! You  _just_  told me to continue going to him! Now, all the sudden, it's a fucking crime!"

"Have you never thought it was best to simply let it lay to fucking rest?!" Kiba questioned hotly.

"Not when you keep urging me to keep asking!" Naruto retorted. "I haven't even tried before tonight! You're acting like I pester him every fucking day! I've never even asked before! I wanted you to help make it easier!"

"You never thought to, at fucking least, wait until someone was  _ready_  to speak about it," Kiba went on, "instead of pressuring them and then cornering them when they're drunk?!" He paused, seemingly to simply catch his breath.

"As if you had no part in that! You agreed to help me  _nudge_  it out of him!" Naruto hollered.

Kiba wrinkled his nose up in anger. "Well, he doesn't wanna talk about it, so leave it alone!" Kiba retorted, knowing that he was guilty of that accusation. He  _had_  just agreed to help Naruto squeeze it out of Sasuke. He couldn't argue with that. "Just don't pressure him!"

"I wasn't  _pressuring_  him! I just wanted to hear something about R—" Naruto began to argue back, but Kiba interrupted.

"Don't ever speak her name again!" Kiba shouted, and everyone jumped at the sudden intensity. "You don't even have the right to know it! You don't have the right to know of her!" Kiba stared furiously at Naruto, who stared furiously back.

Naruto hadn't even imagined that such an angry side of Kiba could exist. In all honesty, he had never really considered how touchy the subject could be, and he had definitely never thought that it would be so touchy to  _Kiba_. Kiba hadn't exactly given him any clues though. If it was so serious, why didn't Kiba just tell Naruto? Why did he keep egging Naruto on? Why was it suddenly not okay to ask about Ren? It wasn't like he'd been bothering Sasuke all day every day. He hadn't asked even once before. Naruto just didn't understand what had happened. What had changed?

"Kiba," Itachi said softly, reaching out and touching the brunet's arm.

It seemed that the solitary word was all that Kiba needed. He relaxed a bit and glanced over to Sasuke, who was standing tensely off to the side. He seemed completely unaffected by the exchange, as if Naruto hadn't just vaguely admitted to having some sort of feelings for him and Kiba hadn't just jeopardized his friendship with Naruto to protect him. Itachi followed Kiba's gaze and tensed incredibly himself, shocked by what met his senses. Could he have actually just picked up on some of Sasuke's true emotion? The exchange must have struck something inside him, because there was a loophole in his iron defense for once.

Sasuke's face was void of all emotion, but Itachi could feel a sliver of misery seeping into his brother's aura. Sasuke was  _feeling_  something, and it was something very painful to even Itachi. Had anyone else been less focused on Naruto or Kiba, they would have pounced on the opportunity to actually pick up such a thing from Sasuke. As quickly as Itachi had felt it though, it passed. Itachi was left stunned. He'd just felt a trickle of honest emotion from his brother for the first time in like... ever. When he'd come back from his "leave", Sasuke had already become the man he was now. His emotions were already locked away, and Itachi hadn't been a vampire before he left. He wasn't sure what to do next. It seemed that Sasuke had caught on as well, because he wasted no time in gracing Itachi with a chilling glare.

"I'm leaving," Sasuke said simply.

Naruto caught Sasuke's elbow quickly. "I'll walk you!" he blurted out impulsively. He wanted to stay with Sasuke, to speak with him, to understand him, despite how inexplicably angry that very desire had just made Kiba.

"Leave it!" Kiba snapped at Naruto, who leveled a glare on him in response.

"Make me," Naruto dared, tightening his grip on Sasuke defensively. If Kiba was suddenly going to get possessive of Sasuke, Naruto would put up a damn fight... literally, if he had to.

Sasuke snatched his elbow from Naruto's grip so quickly that you would swear Naruto's fingers were made of coals. A tiny hiss left his throat and his eyes had switched to the deepest, darkest hue of red that Naruto had ever seen them be. Although, in all honesty, he hadn't really seen very much of Sasuke in the span of their acquaintance. Contrary to fable, though, vampire eyes deepened not when vampires were thirsty, for they were always thirsty, but when vampires were feeling strong emotions instead. Emotions were directly connected to their urges. Thus, the deep hue of Sasuke's eyes showed Naruto just how dangerously agitated Sasuke was, and Naruto knew that Sasuke's choice to relieve that agitation would consist of Naruto's blood in Sasuke's mouth.

Naruto was scared that he might look at Sasuke the wrong way and set the latter to ripping his throat out, so he chose to stare at Sasuke's much less intimidating lips instead. Even when sheathing a very dangerous tool evolved simply to draw blood from people just like Naruto himself, those lips were simply enrapturing. There was just no denying that. Naruto wouldn't have been surprised if everyone in the room, and even the surrounding outside area, picked up on his urge to kiss those lips. That even included Kiba, who had no vampire sensing abilities at all. Hell, Naruto almost lost himself entirely in a fit of desire and chanced a quick taste. That was, of course, until Sasuke's harsh voice brought him back to reality.

"I don't need a babysitter," Sasuke snarled. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm at the top of the food chain. I do  _not_  need a  _human_  showing me home." Sasuke's eyes filled with something dark and disturbing that was close to, but not quite, hatred as he spoke. Naruto didn't see that emotion or how intriguing it was though, for he was still too terrified to meet those dangerous eyes and, perhaps, too engulfed to leave those sinful lips.

"Then let me," Gaara chimed in as Sasuke began turning to walk away again.

Gaara's voice was filled with demand. It was neither a question nor a suggestion. It was a command, an inevitable fate. Hard as his tone was, his eyes were clear of any sign that the monster within him had grown any less dormant. It seemed that a long stint of self-imposed isolation did him well. He'd finally started drinking supplemental blood, but only because Temari had threatened to get their father involved. His thirst was sated enough for him to interact with people again, not that he chose to do so. Kankuro had enough faith in him, though, to allow Naruto to drag him out on this rendezvous, which was going far from how Naruto had planned. He had expected some sort of conflict to unfold, but he had definitely not expected this.

When Sasuke simply scoffed at Gaara's demand, it sent Kiba over the edge. His anger was redirected from Naruto to Sasuke. "When did you turn into such a fuck?" he asked hotly. Sasuke simply scoffed at Kiba too. "Don't  _do_  that!" Kiba demanded. Sasuke looked as if he was about to scoff again, but Kiba charged on. "Yeah, you've been cold for the past eight years," Sasuke tensed up immensely at the words, but Kiba went on regardless. "—but this is worse than it's ever been, Sasuke. Ever since—" Kiba began to form a name with his mouth, but Sasuke put an immediate stop to that.

"Don't you dare, Kiba!" Sasuke warned viciously.

"Ever since  _her,_ " Kiba went on with a dramatic gesture, changing the name quickly due to Sasuke's threat but going on as if Sasuke hadn't even spoken. "—you've been someone else completely. I honestly thought that we were getting you back though." Kiba's voice was displeased, but his eyes were sad and desperate. Sasuke looked as irked as ever. In fact, he almost looked violated. "I always understood when things had to change between us. I understood that we had to heal and that we would have to do that separately. I honestly thought that I was seeing the boy we grew up with come through again though. I thought that Naruto was filling some void for you."

Sasuke sneered at the notion but felt a slight skip of the beat in his chest. He would admit to being a stubborn asshole, but he couldn't lie to himself and insist that Naruto hadn't brought some form of joy into his life. Even if it seemed that all he brought was darkness, Naruto had made some strange change in Sasuke. Perhaps it wasn't the actual actions that Naruto had taken, for all of those had been truly infuriating to Sasuke, but maybe it was just the quality of his eyes and the innocence in his smile that made Sasuke feel... lighter. He would, of course, keep that thought to himself though.

"And the painting—" Kiba went on passionately.

"Oh, shut  _up_  about the painting!" Sasuke interrupted quickly, abandoning all positive thought of Naruto in favor of being annoyed again.

These types of things were  _family_  affairs. They should be discussed in private, even if everyone remaining in the bar, except for Naruto, was pretty much to be considered so anyway. Then again, even before Naruto came and shook things up, Sasuke would never have talked about these things in either private or public. The blond seemed to be changing a lot of things in a lot of people.

"Just shut up!" Sasuke snapped. He turned to leave again but stopped, only because of how unprepared he was to hear Kiba's voice take on such an ugly tone.

"No!" Kiba hollered. "I will not shut up!" Sasuke shot Kiba a filthy glare over his shoulder. "Everything you paint is her! It's everywhere!" Kiba added, causing Sasuke to look even further insulted, if that was at all possible. "At first, I thought you were still hurting and maybe you actually were. Then, everything changed when Naruto came around and you were  _finally_ moving on and getting over her!"

Naruto scrunched his brows up in confusion. Was Kiba saying that Naruto had been good for Sasuke? What the fuck? Sasuke seemed to have gotten  _worse_  since the very first day that they had met. Naruto wanted to be good for Sasuke. He wanted to help him heal, even if he didn't know that he was doing it... but from what? What had happened in this family? Who the fuck was Ren?

_To be continued..._


	10. Battle Royale II

**_Previously, in Chapter 9:  
_ ** _"Just shut up!" Sasuke snapped. He turned to leave again but stopped, only because of how unprepared he was to hear Kiba's voice take on such an ugly tone._

_"No!" Kiba hollered. "I will not shut up!" Sasuke shot Kiba a filthy glare over his shoulder. "Everything you paint is her! It's everywhere!" Kiba added, causing Sasuke to look even further insulted, if that was at all possible. "At first, I thought you were still hurting and maybe you actually were. Then, everything changed when Naruto came around and you were finally moving on and getting over her!"_

_Naruto scrunched his brows up in confusion. Was Kiba saying that Naruto had been good for Sasuke? What the fuck? Sasuke seemed to have gotten worse since the very first day that they had met. Naruto wanted to be good for Sasuke. He wanted to help him heal, even if he didn't know that he was doing it... but from what? What had happened in this family? Who the fuck was Ren?_

**~ **( >^.^)> <**(^.^<) ~**

"I was so fucking happy to see the old Sasuke shining through," Kiba went on. "You know, the guy who laughed at her jokes because they really  _were_  funny, the guy who never retorted because she really  _was_  too witty. I thought that I was seeing the Sasuke who used to complain about dragging her along but could never stop smiling in her presence," Kiba went on fondly and, yet, still so disgruntled. "Now you're just some pathetic shell of yourself. I didn't even think it was possible to sink lower! And what for, Sasuke? Why did you sink lower? How did you get to be this way? Because you met someone stimulating? Because you met someone who made you feel something other than guilt or anger or loneliness?" Kiba prodded, motioning roughly to Naruto. "You met someone just as vulnerable as her, someone you didn't wanna hurt, and you're afraid that—"

"I'm not  _afraid_  of anything!" Sasuke spat.

"Why won't you just admit weakness?!" Kiba shouted, his voice filling with pain. "You don't have to be so empty all the time! We all know what it was like, Sasuke! We were all there! We all still are!"

Gaara dropped his I-hate-life face in favor of a much more concerned expression. He could see that this was heading into very dangerous waters. Hell, it'd been heading there from the second that Naruto had asked to talk about Ren. Gaara wasn't sure that he could handle the conversation himself. Ren had been a major part of his and his siblings' lives too. This was the most emotion that Gaara had shown for Kiba since the whole biting incident though, so Naruto rejected his inclination to interject and calm Kiba down solely for that fact. Not that any of his attempts at friendly comfort would have gone over so well at that moment anyway, considering he had started this whole thing to begin with.

"If anyone should be afraid, it's you!" Sasuke snarled threateningly. "Hold your tongue, Kiba! You're going too far and my tolerance is waning!"

Kiba scoffed so Sasuke-like that Naruto was taken aback. "What'll you do if I don't?" he said daringly. "Kill me? You're gonna take your own brother's life?"

" _Step_ brother," Sasuke amended crudely.

"Oh, fuck off!" Kiba exploded. "Since when did you become so bothered with that?!  _Step_ brother,  _half—_ " A terrifying hiss left Sasuke's lips, and his fangs were bared. Kiba abandoned the rest of that sentence, but was not perturbed. "When did that shit start to fucking matter? Last time I checked, I was just your brother!"

"Then you're late on the times," Sasuke retorted hurtfully.

Kiba didn't seem hurt though. He was only further enraged. " _I am not_!" he shouted. "That's you, Sasuke! You're stuck in some fucked up past that we've all moved on from!" Naruto could see the despair rising in his friend, and he was tempted again to comfort him. He let Kiba bellow on though, mostly out of curiosity at what would unfold. "I seem to remember very clearly some sixteen years ago when our parents were just married and you were so fucking happy to have a little brother!" Sasuke's eyes were dark slits, but he did not try to cut in or refute because it wasn't a lie. It was true. "Please, let me know when that changed because I'm confused! Was it yesterday? Last month? A year ago?! Eight years ago?!"

Sasuke went so rigid that it seemed impossible. "Drop it!" he snapped brusquely, taking a very threatening step toward Kiba.

"We've spent  _years_  not speaking of it!" Kiba shouted, taking a very fearless step toward Sasuke. "We've spent years not speaking of  _anything_! Someone finally comes along who doesn't wanna take no for an answer—" Kiba gestured again to Naruto. "—and we all go fucking crazy! You get scared!" Sasuke sneered at the accusation, but said nothing. "You get violent!" Kiba added, nodding at Gaara, who looked away in shame. "And I just get crazy!" Kiba looked at Naruto slightly apologetically. "I tried to unfriend him for finally ripping some fucking emotion outta you, and I've been praying for someone to do that for years." It was a good enough apology for Naruto, so he nodded in return. Kiba turned back to Sasuke. "No, Sasuke. For once, let's fucking talk."

Sasuke simply glared, so Kiba went on much more subdued. "Tell me when I lost your friendship." Sasuke still didn't answer. "When did you side with dad? When did I become disposable to you too?"

Even Gaara's face came completely out of repose. Sasuke's face, however, seemed angrily set in stone, but Naruto would swear that he saw Sasuke stagger back a tiny step. Kiba pounced on that telling action.

"If that's the fate you've condemned me to, Sasuke, then fine, but at least have the fucking balls to tell me so," Kiba challenged. "If I'm gonna be thrown away by you too, then let me know. Have I been shouldering your pain for nothing?" Kiba's voice stayed even, but the emotions filling it were gathering in intensity. It had to be all that he could do to keep from shouting again. Sasuke's face was finally relaxing, but not in a good way. It was in an agonizing sort of way. "Have you  _any_  clue what I'm even talking about?" Kiba asked.

Naruto had expected Sasuke to stay silent or else simply walk away again. To his surprise though, Sasuke answered quickly. "Yes!" he said quietly but fiercely.

That answer only seemed to upset Kiba even further. He closed his eyes and balled his fists tightly. "And yet I suffered alone?" he bit out. He didn't wait for an answer, as if he would have gotten one. "I shouldered your pain out of pure,  _brotherly_  love, and you let me suffer on my own?" Sasuke's face flashed a flicker of emotion before he shifted his eyes to stare pointedly at the floor. "You left me alone?!" Kiba asked, his voice getting louder as he neared tears.

"You weren't  _alone_ ," Itachi cut in softly.

Kiba stared at Sasuke for a moment longer, begging whatever gods were out there to crack his shell. He eventually looked to his other sibling though, and he smiled when he did. Itachi's eyes were so expressive, such the opposite of Sasuke's. He had the emotional tools to be just as empty as Sasuke, but he did no such thing. He was not afraid of his emotions. He was not afraid to show Kiba himself entirely. His eyes were full of concern and of solidarity. Yes, Kiba was not alone. He was never alone. Itachi protected him as best that he could. Even when Itachi had left them as children, Kiba never felt abandoned. Itachi had always protected Kiba.

Kiba smiled weakly and nodded. "You're right. I wasn't alone," he acknowledged. "You were there." The pair only disengaged their gaze when Sasuke snorted with disgust.

"What?!" Kiba snapped, but Sasuke didn't answer. He simply averted his eyes again. "Jealous of our relationship?" Kiba poked.

Sasuke sneered. "As if."

"You know, Ren—" Kiba began what would have been a very compelling statement before he was cut off.

"Don't  _speak_  of her," Sasuke demanded. His tone, however, was softer this time, and much more pleading.

Kiba didn't back down, however. "Why? Just because Naruto is here? He's probably figured it all out anyway!"

Naruto didn't want to let on otherwise, but he couldn't help the ignorance in his expression. He didn't really care though. He would bet that they could all sense his lack of understanding anyway. His hunch was confirmed by Sasuke's reply.

"No, he hasn't!" Sasuke snapped.

"Well, he'll find out anyway!" Kiba replied.

"Yeah, when you betray me again and tell him!" Sasuke retorted, looking at Kiba with renewed ferocity. "I thought that it was  _my_  story to tell, as you phrased it not so long ago," Sasuke added, his voice finding its typical, even rhythm again. Kiba huffed. He had said that, and it was true. This was Sasuke's story to tell, and no one else's. "What? Now that you're angry with me, it's suddenly okay to scream my story out to the public, despite what I wish?"

Kiba couldn't argue. Instead, he looked guiltily away. Kiba took a few deep breaths to collect himself. Sasuke had just snuffed him out completely. He'd gotten too carried away. In a fit of anger, he'd almost reverted to doing exactly what he'd been adamant on not doing the entire time he'd even known Naruto. Had he not been endlessly reminding himself that Sasuke should be the one to tell? Helping Naruto get it out of Sasuke when Sasuke was drunk was one thing. Saying it himself out of spite was another thing entirely. That wasn't like Kiba at all. He was never the type of person to stoop to spilling Sasuke's secrets. It was all of their secret really, but it was mostly Sasuke's. He should have been the one to share it, if ever he wanted to. Sasuke had every right to withhold that information, and Kiba had no right to divulge it. Well, he had a right. It just wasn't big enough, not nearly as big as Sasuke's.

Kiba tensed when he saw Sasuke turn and begin to walk away again. He wasn't ready to let Sasuke go. He wasn't ready to watch Sasuke disappear through that door. He knew that everything they'd touched on tonight would be lost if he did. Sasuke would push it all away and pretend that it didn't exist, just as he always did. Kiba couldn't handle that. There was still so much left to talk about, so much to mend. Could Sasuke not see how much Kiba needed him? Could Sasuke not feel how desperate Kiba was for their bond to reignite? Or else, did he simply not care? Itachi, without a doubt, cared. He picked up on Kiba's rising despair and stepped in. He stopped Sasuke dead in his tracks. He didn't stop him with words or a gentle touch, but with brute force.

In the blink of an eye, Itachi was pinning Sasuke down on the ground by his neck, growling fiercely. "You would leave your brother in such a state?!" he shouted. "Don't pretend that you cannot feel his pain!" Itachi released Sasuke's neck with such force that Sasuke was flung back across the floor a few feet. "Go back to him!" Itachi demanded as he stood again.

Sasuke let out an impressive growl that had Naruto's stomach turning. "Please," he spat. In a flash, the positions were switched. Itachi found himself pinned below a snarling Sasuke. "You think you have any power over me?" Sasuke challenged.

"Do not test me!" Itachi warned, changing positions again and slamming Sasuke up against the bar.

"Don't order me around like your puppet!" Sasuke snarled, and he tensed to retaliate. Itachi slammed him back into the bar, though, before he could get even an inch away from it.

" **Do not test me!** " Itachi repeated in a deafening bellow. For the first time since their reunion, Sasuke recognized Itachi's strength. When backed into a corner, however, Sasuke could do worse.

Too quickly for any human to see, deep gashes were slashed into Itachi face and Sasuke had thrown him across the floor. Itachi didn't seem fazed by the number of tables he'd taken out along the way or by the slight dent that was left in the wall supporting his stage. In fact, the moment that he'd stopped moving, he was tensed to spring an immediate counterattack. Deidara, however, was at his side in a fraction of a second, whispering frantically into his ear and holding him to the spot with a tight grip around his waist. Sasuke's lips quirked into an arrogant smirk. Before he could make any snide remarks though, Itachi was speaking again. He abandoned his anger rather easily and, instead, honed in on something else entirely.

"Do you really know what our brother has been through?" Itachi asked quietly, though his voice was sharp. Sasuke snorted dismissively. Itachi's hands began trembling, perhaps with a desire to maim, but he didn't emanate any outward aggression. "He's suffered more than any of us. He's suffered more than even you, Sasuke, much more than you." Sasuke snorted again, except it was less dismissive and more derisive this time.

"Did you never once stop to think about me?" Kiba asked, pulling the attention back to himself. Sasuke built up a terrible scowl, but it faltered after a moment. That was all the indication that Kiba needed. "You, apparently, disowned me at some point, but don't you think that I was suffering as much as you, if not tenfold?"

"Oh, I'm sure," Sasuke said sarcastically.

"The only father I have  _ever_  known threw me away," Kiba said calmly.

"And you were the  _only_  child that he threw away, were you?" Sasuke added coldly.

"Look at your life, Sasuke!" Kiba exclaimed in exasperation. "Itachi has this bar and dad turns a blind eye, letting him have his way. You take up art and dad simply hassles you every now and then, giving you your way. The family business isn't in the line of bar-tending or art, but you still have your way! You're lucky! Dad spares you, the both of you!"

"Please," Sasuke spat. "He does not spare me, Kiba."

"Ita turns his nose up at money that I'll never have, and you suck it up like a fucking vacuum," Kiba argued. "Dad just gives you what you want to please you, and all  _you_  have to endure is a little haggling!"

"You can't see the way that he looks at me," Sasuke said coolly.

"And what of me?" Kiba retorted. "He looks at you coldly and, yet, treats you so warmly... and  _what of me_?  _I_  have to take business or law or something else I abso-fucking-lutely hate, just so dad has someone to assert his demands on. Fuck what Kiba  _wants_  to do. Kiba does what he's told," Kiba went on frantically, trying to escape the building tears. "Itachi can have his bar, Sasuke can have his art, and Kiba can have nothing but the fear of complete abandonment if he's not grateful that he even gets to  _go_  to college!"

Sasuke's mask began to slowly melt. "Boo hoo, little orphan Kiba," he quipped.

Kiba's eyes clouded with tears. "You thought that  _you_  lost his love. You thought that  _you_  were cast aside. No, Sasuke.  _I_  suffered for you. Were you really too engulfed in your own pity party to realize that no one was punishing you? Dad may never look at you the same, but he'll never treat you any differently and that's because you're his son, but not me.  _I_  shouldered that pain."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, though there was a slight part of him that did feel pity deeply for Kiba because Kiba was right. Their father had begun treating Kiba like a burden after Ren had died. In his grief, he neglected all his children, but Kiba faced the worst of it. Fugaku had already ruined Sasuke's life by changing him and he'd ruined Itachi's too by killing their mother. In his mind, his children had suffered enough pain on Fugaku's account. He made it a point to try making up for what wrongs he'd done by devoutly redirecting any negativity felt toward them to something else, and Kiba was the unlucky target. He wasn't even Fugaku's biological child. It was too easy to aim his anger at pain at the vulnerable child, and that Fugaku did.

He'd never lain but a hand or two on Kiba, and only in his worst, most feral state of being. Even then, though, Itachi had come to the rescue. Human as he was at the time, he'd never been too afraid to step in between Kiba and his father. Despite the deeply ingrained fear Itachi had toward his father, having watched the man literally kill his mother, the elder had never hesitated to protect Kiba. It only hurt Kiba more to see how unwilling Fugaku was to touch Itachi wrongly when he was so ready to knock Kiba down, but Kiba had still been thankful that Itachi cared for him. It was tough to watch Fugaku express such blatant concern with his aversion to treating Itachi roughly, but that was all made okay by the look of total love in Itachi's eyes every time he'd finally turn to a trembling Kiba and hug him once Fugaku had gone. Kiba's memories with Itachi were all fond, and they'd been what got him through his childhood with as much ease as possible.

As for the abuse, it'd only even been a forceful smack or a rough handling. Never anything overly abusive, but the psychological brutalization was nothing to be downplayed. Most of the time, Itachi had been Kiba's only saving grace. If he didn't come every time he heard Fugaku begin his yelling, things might have escalated beyond only mental abuse. Sasuke knew all this. He'd been there to witness and see, always peeking through the crack in his door and refusing to intervene, but witnessing nonetheless. He'd battled with his own feelings on the situation, but he'd never been as brave as Itachi. He feared the punishment that, as Kiba had pointed out, he'd never received. He walked around every day thinking his father was blaming him for Ren's death and just waiting to pounce on him like he always did so cruelly with Kiba. Sasuke lived in his own world of fear and uncertainty, unable to extend his hand to even his own self, let alone his brothers.

"You didn't know?" Itachi asked quietly, though skeptically.

Slowly, Sasuke shook his head no, unable to lie. "I knew," he said flatly. He couldn't shoulder that guilt back then though. He was a child. Hell, he couldn't even shoulder it in the present. "I blocked it out in a selfish attempt to find salvation," Sasuke said, and he shrugged lightly. Although, the dispassionate attitude that he tried to portray didn't quite reach his eyes.

"And what about  _my_  salvation?" Kiba asked, his eyes filled to the brim with tears. He would have been happier if Sasuke had truly been ignorant.

"You have  _two_  brothers," Sasuke said simply.

"Itachi protected me," Kiba defended quickly.

"And that's not enough for you?" Sasuke asked evenly.

Kiba only huffed in exasperation, averting his eyes and seeking stability before murmuring, "Not a single thing that dad ever did to me could compare to this, and not a single memory of Itachi rescuing me from that hell will ease it either. Nothing will make me forget that you simply tuned me out, as if I wasn't crying out for you at night. For years, Sasuke, I waited for you to remember I existed too. So, no, it's not enough. It never will be."

Sasuke's iron defense was crumbling. His chest was contracting from the onslaught of emotions. He almost couldn't stop himself from crying.  _Almost._ He had condemned his brother to a miserable existence. It was all his fault. Everything. Everything was his fault, and Kiba had a right to hate him for that. He couldn't face Kiba. He couldn't look into those eyes for a moment longer. He was a true monster, more than he'd ever thought before. He had to avert his eyes. Was he even worthy of looking at Kiba ever again?

"You played deaf and left me to suffer alone," Kiba said quietly.

" _He_  left us," Sasuke retorted, keeping his eyes glued to the floor but nodding toward Itachi.

Kiba huffed. "Even after he left, he left me something," he argued. "Dad was less cruel to me. Even now, he gets dad to cut me some slack."

"Well, there you go. You have my brother to do anything for you," Sasuke replied gruffly. "That's more than I can say, but  _he_  never abandoned you. You should be content with that," he finished in what should have been a cold tone. His eyes, however, were uncharacteristically thick with emotion.

"That doesn't even compare to the things that he's done for  _you_ , Sasuke," Kiba argued. "You have no idea what he's done to keep dad off your back. You have no idea how much of your life is what it is just because of him, because of what he's done for you. You have so much to thank him for."

Sasuke snorted. "Yeah," he began sarcastically, lifting cold eyes to Itachi, "because I'm really thankful that he left me. I'm even more thankful that he was loving  _you_  too much when he was actually there to remember that he had a  _real_  brother to care for."

"Leaving is not the only thing that Ita has ever done," Kiba retorted.

"But it's the biggest," Sasuke shot back, "and you should be angry too. He left us both."

" _You_  pretended it wasn't happening the whole time!" Kiba snapped back. "I should be angry at  _you_!"

Gaara instinctively reached over and touched Kiba's back comfortingly.

"I was brave though," Kiba went on. "I'm so brave that I can overlook that selfishness of yours, even now, and forgive you. I'm so brave that I could suffer  _for_  you, my brother, knowing that you may never thank me for it."

"You want me to thank you?" Sasuke asked quietly. It was a pitiful attempt, for he was unfamiliar with it, but his tone was an obvious stab at apologetic.

"No," Kiba groaned. Hie eyes were still down-cast, but the tears were unmistakable. "I want you to move the fuck on," he said, almost muffled by a sob. He spoke as evenly as he could though, determined to go on. "Dad disowned me for a crime I didn't commit and why shouldn't he? I was just the stepson. After everything, I felt like, at least, I wasn't only the stepbrother. I thought that you guys loved me." Kiba took a deep, steadying breath. He looked back up at Sasuke, but Sasuke had to look away again to contain his emotions.

"When Gaara and I first got together, I was eager to let him feed on me. I didn't mind it because I knew it was helping him, and I wanted to help. Just like that, I shouldered your pain because I wanted to help. It was  _because_  I had brothers that I carried on. It was mostly Ita, but after he left, it was you that kept me going. It was knowing that you were suffering too. I knew that by taking the abuse, I was sparing you, and that made it easy. It was faith in you healing and us just being happy  _together_  again that made it all bearable. I didn't know that I was actually alone at that time.

"I was so desperate to save you, because I loved you. That hunger to save you, Sasuke, that need to love you has never left and it never will. Even now, even eight tortuous and miserable years later, I just wanna see you smile again." A rogue tear that Sasuke fought desperately to restrain fell loose, and Kiba's voice trembled even more vigorously. "I lost Ren too. She was the most precious person to me, and I  _know_  it was the same for you. We both lost ourselves that day and I've only ever been fighting to help you come back to me. I never expected anything in return, but I always had faith that you would rescue me too. I always had faith that you would be okay, and then you would save me from dad... but maybe I'm just naive." Kiba choked down a sob. "Am I just naive, Sasuke?"

"I'm sorry," Sasuke said after a moment's paused. His voice, even and empty, directly contradicted his words. "It hasn't felt anything like a family to me for years, but—" Sasuke looked up at Kiba, and the emotion was there on his face. "—maybe things can change. If it's for... for..."

Ren's name began to form on his lips and Kiba looked as if he were about to explode with the emotion surging between them, but the name seemed to click something off in Sasuke's eyes. He stopped speaking and looked back down at the ground. Suddenly, all emotion had drained from his face and his defenses were back up. Every emotion that all the other vampires had been feeding off of was sharply severed. Sasuke had completely retracted. He was empty, and he, once again, began to leave without preamble.

"Let us help you!" Itachi commanded desperately. "Let us help you grieve and finally let go of that pain. Please."

"You don't get to help!" Sasuke snarled, turning around quickly. "You were gone, Itachi!  _You_  should have been there to protect her! I was only twelve!" he shouted. "And you should never have left home!" Sasuke's eyes took on a wild quality and his aura filled with contempt so quickly that it physically moved every vampire in the room with its intensity. For someone who worked so hard at locking them away, Sasuke's emotions were wild and vivid beyond belief. "You should never have left  _me_!" he added in what was nearing a scream.

"And I'm sorry!" Itachi shouted back. "But I'm here now!"

"I don't  _want_  you now!" Sasuke shouted back angrily. After a few moments of sharing an intense gaze with Itachi, Sasuke spoke again in a much more controlled manner. "It's too late now. She's already dead," he said venomously.

He spun around quickly to leave before anyone could stop him again, but he bumped right into a familiar blond. How Naruto had snuck around to get directly behind him, he couldn't tell you, but he jumped back to put some distance between them instantly. He didn't like how being in physical contact with Naruto made him feel. He didn't like how those captivating, brilliant, blue eyes made him feel either. They held some odd piece of Ren that Naruto couldn't possibly have, and that put Sasuke on a sickening edge.

"Let  _me_  help you," Naruto suggested quietly.

He attached one hand gently to Sasuke's elbow, holding the other out in an offer for a hug. The contact was soft. It wasn't even a clasp or a grab. It was really just a gentle touch. Sasuke stared at Naruto incredulously, his eyes darting between the point of contact and those blue orbs. He faintly willed himself to hiss in defense and scare the man off, but he found that his throat was paralyzed. He wasn't even sure if he was breathing anymore. His chest was rising and falling rapidly, but he couldn't really feel his body at all. He could only recognize the precise spot where Naruto's fingers seared his skin.

His panic eventually ebbed enough for him to gaze into Naruto's eyes steadily, as if he'd had any choice to do otherwise. One good look into those eyes would've had anyone sucked into their abyss. Sasuke found not even the faintest trace of fear or reluctance in their depths. There was only acceptance. If Naruto had ever been sure of anything in his life, it was that he should be standing there before Sasuke as he was, and that feeling was strongly portrayed in his gaze. Sasuke became slightly aware of his chest again and of how heavily he was panting. He vacantly thought about how embarrassed he should be at how he must have sounded. A simple touch had nailed him to the ground and sent him panting like an overheated dog.

Sasuke's thoughts wandered to his sister and to her death, a death that had been torturing him for eight years straight. As though he could read Sasuke's unnerving thoughts, Naruto's eyes grew softer, silently assuring Sasuke that it was okay to feel whatever he was feeling—and, oddly enough, Sasuke felt that it was. His thoughts wandered away, until they fell back upon her name. Ren. He felt the overwhelming urge to close up at the word, just as he had always done. The stupid, blond idiot's fingers were making that impossible though. Ren. Naruto was holding him open. Ren. So very open, and Sasuke couldn't fight it. Ren. Sasuke felt everything that he'd ever felt about Ren overwhelm him at once. Once again, every vampire in the room was moved by the rush of emotions that filled his aura, all circulating around one name.  _Ren_. Most of all, Sasuke recognized the loneliness that he'd felt at the loss of his most precious person.

Sasuke whispered, "Ren," so quietly that only Naruto could hear.

Naruto could hear the guilt, the anger, the pain, the loneliness, the misery, and heaviest of all, the love engulfing that name. He smiled softly at Sasuke. Everyone was watching the back of Sasuke's head. It 'd been a few very long moments that he and Naruto stood like that, and nobody dared to breathe. The only noise was the sound of Sasuke's heavy breath. Naruto's smile never faltered though. It was enticing. It was captivating. It was tempting.

Naruto would hold him. Sasuke knew that. And for the first time in years, Sasuke wanted to be held. He couldn't quite will his muscles to move though. He wanted so badly to be gone from Naruto's line of sight but he couldn't leave, not with those fingers anchoring him to the earth. Sasuke's mind was blanking, one incessant name bellowing along the corridors like a mantra of misery. Ren. Ren. Ren. Did he even want to flee? No. He didn't want to move. Yet, he wanted to be anywhere but there, anywhere but within reach of Naruto and the feelings that he'd made Sasuke feel for his sister again.

There was a gaping hole in Sasuke's chest, a hole the he couldn't ignore in Naruto's presence. It had swallowed him entirely. He'd disappeared into its depths. He'd been lost completely, but Naruto... Naruto was his rope. Naruto was hauling him from one abyss into another. He was pulling Sasuke from Ren's despair to shower him in his own light. Naruto was bringing life back to Sasuke. Naruto was bringing  _Sasuke_  back to Sasuke. Then, suddenly, his mantra was replaced. Naruto. There was something to alleviate a bit of his pain. Naruto. There was a reason to  _feel_  again. Naruto. There was nothing to fear, because Naruto had the power to heal him. Yes, Naruto.

"Naruto."

The name must have come out as less than a whisper, but Naruto heard it loud and clear. His hand shifted from a touch to a grip. It applied a reassuring pressure that said, 'Yes, I'm here'. Sasuke decided at that very moment that he wanted to be closer. He wanted to truly fall into Naruto's abyss. He wanted to move forward, onward, inward, and into Naruto's arms. he could see a safe haven in the foot that still lay between them, and that was where he wanted to be. Luckily—or, perhaps, unfortunately—Sasuke's body moved on its own. Before Sasuke could decide whether he was moving properly or not, his fingers were wrapped tightly around two tan wrists and he was moving forward, and maybe onward, but not inward or into anything at all like Naruto's arms.

A familiar noise rang through the room. Sasuke recognized it as his own, often utilized, predatory hiss. He noticed that his face was scrunched up in fury. Apparently, it was having the right effect because, vacant as Sasuke felt, Naruto responded with a jolt of fear. It was obvious how hard he'd had to try to recover and look unconcerned again. Sasuke's hiss was punctuated by the sound of Naruto's back cracking as it hit the edge of the stage. Sasuke loomed over him and slammed Naruto's wrists against the stage floor, efficiently bending Naruto over in the most uncomfortable position and causing the blond to wince in pain.

Sasuke couldn't be sure if he actually wanted any of that to happen, but it happened nonetheless. His body had been trained to react after years and years of repetitive action. People speak kindly to me, I snarl. People touch me, I retract. People affect me, I hiss. People annoy me enough, I bite. All the while, I think nothing of Ren. The name had been far too taboo to even think aloud in his mind. Sasuke couldn't be sure if he wanted to hurt Naruto or if he wanted to love him, but he felt his mouth descending to bite anyway. His throat came alive with a familiar throbbing, an anticipation for blood. His eyes burned as their color intensified. He was beginning to lose track of his confusing thoughts and instinct was taking over. When a vampire got that close to a neck, the only thing left to do was to simply bite.

It was Itachi's threatening growl and the hand that gripped Sasuke's shirt that stopped Sasuke's descent. Instantly, Sasuke's instinct was to fight, to protect his meal. Then, Sasuke completed the  _one_  action he was  _sure_  that he had commanded himself to complete. Just as quickly as he'd snapped and pounced upon Naruto, he was gone. Itachi was left with just a patch of black fabric clutched in his fingers. Naruto didn't even have the time to right himself before Sasuke disappeared out the door like a flash of lightning.

This was not how Naruto had hoped for that evening to go... not at all.

_To be continued..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't normally do this stuff, but I'm pairing relationships with songs for this chapter :)
> 
> 1\. From Gaara to Kiba—I Should Be Lost Without You by David Condos  
> 2\. From Sasuke to Ren—Echo by Jason Walker  
> 3\. From Kiba to Ren (you may only find this on youtube)—So This Is War by Medic  
> 4\. From Naruto to Sasuke—Broken Open by Adam Lambert  
> 5\. From Kiba to Gaara—Human by Jon Mclaughlin  
> 6\. From Kiba to Sasuke—We All Need Saving by Jon Mclaughlin
> 
> Check out a playlist of all the songs (and more for later chapters) here:  
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJUMu36XElQpyWp2dzu_ry9wDVEEPP0BO


	11. A New Way of Living

Fucking Kankuro. Three weeks and he was  _still_  "missing". Naruto lightly rubbed the wound on his shoulder absently. It'd been feeling awfully strange lately. He just assumed it must have been traces of venom or something. It wasn't like he knew though. He wasn't an expert on vampire bites or anything. He would have just asked one of his friends, but no one was any damn help. Kiba had been in a real mood since that awful double date. On the bright side, Gaara had dropped the drama queen act and gone home. Even if they were living under the same roof again, Gaara was still pretty distant though. He slept in the guest bedroom and often went out alone, leaving Kiba to feel the same way he'd felt when Gaara was gone. It wasn't exactly a happy one, but it was a medium.

Naruto could understand Kiba's mood though. After what had happened with Sasuke, Kiba had every right to be upset. Naruto couldn't even imagine having a brother who had been his very best friend at some point just shun him for no apparent reason at all. Well, there was definitely a reason. Naruto just didn't know what that reason was. All he knew was that it involved Ren, their sister. Her death had ruined their family. But why? Didn't families usually come together in the wake of such a tragedy?

Kiba had seen Sasuke come so damn close to being human again that night, and then he just turned the other way in an instant. It must have been devastating for Kiba to feel like he was getting his brother back just to have the asshole run away again. Everyone who was there that evening was glad to have seen any emotion coming out of Sasuke at all, even if it wasn't necessarily pleasant. When he started to let himself be truly vulnerable though, everyone was on pins and needles. Just when they all thought that they'd finally had Sasuke in the bag and that his shell had been broken, Naruto included, Sasuke about-faced and kept on running. Naruto had been  _so_  damn close to pinning the bastard to the spot too. Sasuke had  _almost_ stayed. He had  _almost_  hugged Naruto. In the end, though, he ran. He chose to leave and shut himself off again. That must have been eating Kiba up inside. If it affected Naruto as severely as it did, he couldn't even imagine how Kiba must have been faring.

That double date was something else that Naruto would have loved to talk to someone about. Gaara was definitely out though, considering he spent most of the time he was even around looking unhappier than a cat tossed in a lake. It did seem like a different kind of discontentment though. Naruto already knew that Gaara had found his bloodlust harder to manage ever since the whole biting incident when Naruto accidentally found out that vampires existed. It seemed like it had been ten times harder to manage lately though, now that he was living with Kiba again. That was reasonable. At least Gaara's constant scowl wasn't directed toward Kiba himself, but rather toward the fact that he constantly wanted to rip the brunet's throat out and drink his blood instead. Only in the vampire world was that the better option.

Even if it was a constant struggle with his bloodlust for him to stay, Gaara still hadn't left. That was how Naruto knew that things must have changed for Gaara. He was one of the very select few people who knew the Inuzuka-Uchiha family history—not to mention, he could feel Kiba's emotions easily—so he knew exactly what Kiba must have been dealing with. Naruto, on the other hand, only knew that Kiba was suffering. To what extent or for what specific reasons, he had no clue. Even if it'd been easier to pretend otherwise, Gaara and Kiba had a bond that Gaara could not ignore at this time. Before the double date, Gaara was content to simply leave Kiba, thinking that it was best for both of them. Now, however, everything had changed. Even if he refused to date Kiba anymore, he couldn't act like they hadn't been friends their whole lives. He couldn't just leave Kiba hanging during such a turbulent time.

Even if he didn't say it out loud, Kiba needed Gaara. That much was obvious to anyone—even people with no vampire sensing abilities at all—and it was a different kind of need than before too. Before, Kiba just wanted his boyfriend back. Now, Kiba needed his friend. Gaara would still avoid touching or even talking to Kiba if he could, but Naruto saw the redhead staring at Kiba fairly often. It didn't look like Gaara was trying very hard to hide his staring either, and Kiba had easily caught on to that too.

How Naruto knew that Gaara and Kiba still had something strong left between them was all in their eyes. The moments when they would catch each other looking at the same time, something intense would pass between them. Not only that, but Gaara was back to being overly protective of Kiba, if not even more so than before. That was different too though. It was almost as if Gaara was overcompensating because this was something that Gaara knew he couldn't really protect Kiba from. It certainly didn't seem like Gaara was making very big strides to rekindle their relationship romantically, but it was also kind of inevitable. It had to be hard, if not impossible, to be around each other and not feel the love that they'd shared.

Romantic relationship aside, Gaara was definitely striving to be the friend that Kiba needed. Really, he didn't have to do much to help Kiba because Kiba would just instantly relax around Gaara. It must have simply been Gaara's being that caused Kiba to do so. There was obviously a connection deeper than anything Naruto had ever witnessed between the two of them. It was a connection that forced Gaara to stay by Kiba's side, even if it was a very, very confusing place to be. In short, their relationship was obviously complicated, and that made Gaara the wrong guy to talk to about anything—and Naruto decided that anything included  _everything_ that had transpired since he had come into their lives. It sure seemed like it was just one big thing after another.

Things with Sasuke just got downright weird after the double date. He started showing up at the very last minute before class, and he always chose to sit in a seat that was light-years away from Naruto. He wouldn't even look at Naruto. Well, not when Naruto was looking anyway. Naruto knew that Sasuke was watching him though. He could just  _feel_  Sasuke's eyes on him, but it was no use trying to catch him in the act. Sasuke was a vampire. He could only ever be caught red-handed if he wanted to.

The one time that Naruto was actually able to catch a glimpse of Sasuke's face was when he'd accidentally bumped into the raven while not paying attention. Sasuke had glanced over his shoulder at Naruto, but his expression was absolutely flat. It was as if he was looking at a complete stranger. Naruto wasn't sure how to react right away, but Sasuke disappeared before Naruto could even think about reacting anyway. Naruto noticed that he'd been rubbing his wound more obsessively than normal for the rest of that day. So there was obviously no way he could talk to Sasuke, as if that had ever panned out well any other time he'd tried it in the past anyway.

As for Temari... well... she was just so flippant. Her attention span was worse than a fish. Her having vampire speed only made it harder for Naruto to talk to her too. Every time he tried to bring up the evening of the double date, or his wounds, or Kankuro, she would be onto something else in moments and then she'd be speeding away. It didn't necessarily seem intentional, even though Naruto could tell that those subjects made her uncomfortable and that she wanted to say what everyone said: Ask an Uchiha. Temari was truly just scatter-brained. She was, by no means, a stupid air-head. She just never stopped moving. It was hard to talk to a moving subject, especially if it had vampire speed.

And as for Kankuro, that son of a bitch was still nowhere to be found. His name had also become some sort of a stupid taboo. No one would say it themselves, and then they would all just pretend that they hadn't heard when Naruto did. So, in summary, Naruto was left in the dark. But that was really no shock, was it? He was always the one left in the dark.

He rubbed his cut more roughly as he got more riled up. On one particularly rough rub, he winced as a sting of pain shot through his nerves. He sighed heavily, wishing this wound would heal faster. The one on his back was healing pretty normally, maybe even a bit too quickly. There was something off about the one on his shoulder though. It just didn't feel normal. Well, he did get it from a vampire, so maybe it  _wasn't_  normal. Of course, he had no idea because no one would talk to him about that sort of stuff, so he just had to rely on what little knowledge he did have. And all he really knew was that the wound just felt wrong to him. Not necessarily wrong. Just different. He was always rubbing it compulsively. And if he tried not to touch it, then he would get really fidgety and anxious. It was just impossible for him to ignore. It wasn't necessarily hurting or itching or anything. He just felt like he constantly had to be touching it.

"Stop spacing out and read, Naruto."

Naruto snapped his head to the right. Oh, shit. That's right. Kiba. He and Kiba were... uh... What were they doing again?

"We've been here for hours and you're still on the same page," Kiba said flatly. "Don't waste my time."

Right! Studying! Kiba was helping Naruto study for a test!

"I'm reading!" Naruto lied.

Kiba rolled his eyes and returned his attention to his own book. "Doesn't matter. I stopped reading your material a while ago. You were obviously zoned out."

Kiba propped his book to stand up and Naruto leaned forward to read the title. It clearly had nothing to do with his test. From the looks of it, Kiba had been on that book for a while too. He hadn't been helping Naruto study for a long time now, not that Naruto had any right to complain. Kiba would have just been talking to himself had he even been trying to help anyway.

Kiba continued to read his book in silence, showing no real interest in Naruto anymore. Naruto sighed. He hated the dull edge that Kiba's personality had taken on. This had far surpassed depression. Kiba was just a completely different person now. That was mostly thanks to Sasuke and his inability to just be human for a while. Just as Naruto launched into a mental tirade on Sasuke, Kiba's phone started vibrating on the table. Kiba sighed, as if the whole situation was truly troublesome, and Naruto sighed again too. This type of attitude was Shika's thing, not Kiba's. This guy was supposed to be lively and vibrant. Naruto really missed that. Without taking his eyes off of his book, Kiba flipped open his phone and placed it at his ear.

"Yes?" he asked dully. Suddenly, his book fell flat. He stayed staring into the empty space where it had just been with a look of shock on his face anyway though.

"What?" Naruto asked quickly, abandoning the book that he'd been pretending to read.

"Uh... What?" Kiba asked into the phone. "Repeat that."

"Who is it?" Naruto asked eagerly.

Kiba started mouthing a name. Hmm... Ass... Uh... Jockey... Ahgvey... S...  _Was_  that an 'S'...? Yes, definitely an 'S'... Sa... s... su... suke... Sasuke! Sasuke?

"Sasuke?!" Naruto asked loudly.

Kiba slapped his hand over Naruto's mouth. "Friends?  _My_  friends?" he asked into the phone. Pause. "What should I—" He cut off, and his face scrunched up confusedly. "Wh-What did you say?" he asked. When a response was given, he looked thoroughly confused. "Uh... Okay. Okay, yeah. Um... Bye then?" Kiba paused and then flipped his phone shut, finally removing his hand from Naruto's mouth.

"What'd he want?" Naruto asked immediately.

"Uh... He wants to hang out," Kiba answered.

"Hang out?" Naruto asked. "I'm confused."

"Yeah, I don't know," Kiba said. "Tomorrow, he wants to go ice skating."

Naruto stared blankly for a moment. "Sasuke?" he asked. Kiba nodded his head slowly, clearly confused too. Then, Naruto broke out into uncontrollable snickers. "S-Sasu-uke w-wants t-to ice s-skate?!"

"Is that a problem?" Sasuke asked out of nowhere. Both Naruto and Kiba yelped and jumped in their chairs, earning them a disapproving glare from the librarian across the room. "If you don't like ice skating, then don't go. Simple as that," Sasuke said flatly, standing behind their chairs. Naruto stared at Sasuke incredulously, unable to believe that the man was actually there and admitting that he wanted to go ice skating... with  _other people_. This was just too weird.

"You're here," Kiba pointed out confusedly.

Sasuke hummed affirmatively and casually took the seat across from Naruto at the table. Both boys watched him curiously.

"And you're sitting," Naruto pointed out.

"Oh? Is that what I'm doing?" Sasuke replied sarcastically.

"I thought you said tomorrow," Kiba said.

"I did, but it's not like I couldn't sense you from a mile away. I just thought that I would come—" Sasuke cleared his throat, as he wasn't used to saying these types of things. "—hang out... with you two... right now." When all he received for his effort was two judging stares, he added defensively, "There are some books I need to get anyway."

"Okay," Kiba said after a minute of just staring.

"Uh, no," Naruto interjected, suddenly coming to life. "Not okay. This is weird. Why do you wanna  _hang out_  with us? What makes you think that we wanna hang out with you? I think you—"

"Naruto!" Kiba snapped. "Shut up."

Naruto looked thoroughly offended by Kiba's demand, and so he opened his mouth to retort.

"I thought it would be nice if I could meet your friends," Sasuke said, interrupting Naruto's argument before he could even begin it. Naruto's brows shot up in disbelief as he completely abandoned his attack on Kiba to look back at Sasuke instead. Sasuke scowled slightly at the shock that he felt rolling off of Naruto. He wasn't  _that_  antisocial... was he? "It would be nice to know that they're normal people who aren't planning on murdering you two in a dark alley somewhere or anything," he added.

Naruto snorted. "You're worried about our friends being dangerous?" he asked.

"They could be," Sasuke replied simply.

"Why would that bother  _you_?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke raised a brow that was clearly questioning Naruto's intelligence. "I thought that would be an obvious answer," he said. After a short pause, in which Naruto just looked at him expectantly, Sasuke went on. "I don't want either of you to die."

"That wasn't obvious," Naruto said bluntly, "not at all."

Sasuke scowled again. "Do I really seem like such a villain in your eyes?" he asked.

Naruto snorted again, even more animatedly this time. "Honestly? 99 percent of the time, yes," he answered. Sasuke's scowl deepened.

"He's not," Kiba said quietly. When Naruto and Sasuke looked at him, he was staring down at his closed book. "Sasuke's not a villain," he clarified. He peered up at Sasuke and then mumbled, " _I'm_  happy you're making an effort." He looked back down and added in a tiny whisper that he knew only Sasuke would hear, "—for Ren."

"I'm gonna go find a book then," Sasuke said simply, pretending to ignore Kiba's comment.

As soon as Sasuke seemed to be out of ear shot—seriously, these humans will never learn that out of earshot just isn't a thing among vampires—Naruto turned to Kiba. "He's acting weird," he said.

Kiba looked up at him and smiled. "That's a good thing, Naruto," he assured. "It means he's trying."

"Trying to what?" Naruto asked.

Kiba sighed and rolled his eyes. "He's trying to move on, Naruto." When all he got in return was a confused look, Kiba added, "—from Ren, you idiot."

"OH!" Naruto exclaimed, finally understanding... kind of. "Then, that double date  _did_  have an effect on him?" he asked, looking off toward where Sasuke had disappeared to.

Kiba looked off into the same direction. "Maybe he just needed time to process things," he suggested. "He needed to decide on his own to come back to us. After all, there's no forcing a vampire to do anything, especially not Sasuke."

Naruto snickered. "Ain't that the truth. I guess everything you guys said didn't fall on deaf ears then."

"I think it was less what we said and more what you did," Kiba said softly.

"Please," Naruto said dismissively. "I don't even know what  _happened_. I have no idea what crazy shit is going on with your family," he pointed out, perhaps somewhat bitterly.

"You will," Kiba assured. "If this is any sign, Sasuke will be yours soon."

Naruto just had to snap his head to Kiba and deny the fact that he wanted Sasuke to begin with. After all, why would he want such a bastard? Not that he didn't. We all know he does. He wasn't ready to admit that to Kiba yet though! What, was it written across his forehead? "I have a huge, unreasonable crush on a real bastard named Sasuke and I'm trying my damnedest to get close to him even though he's kind of hated me up until now!" Naruto didn't have a chance to express his fake indignation though, because Sasuke decided to make his presence known in the middle of Naruto's head-snap.

"You should really stop talking about people behind their backs," Sasuke said coolly. And, of course, he had to successfully startle both men into yelping and jumping in their seats again. "—especially when it's me," he added.

Giving them no room to react, though they both adopted a guilty demeanor anyway, Sasuke grabbed Naruto's hand, which had been mindlessly resting on his shoulder, and pulled it away. Kiba took the distraction to bury his nose in his book.

"Dont agitate your wound, dobe," Sasuke instructed. "You make it harder to heal that way."

"Huh?" Then Naruto realized he'd been rubbing his wound  _again_. He sighed and removed his hand. "I can't help it," he grumbled.

"I know," Sasuke said. "I can tell."

Sasuke left it at that and settled back down into his seat, pretending to read his book. Of course, he was actually covertly watching Naruto, but the blond was none the wiser. Naruto sighed and looked back down at his book too, hopefully to read it for real this time. He couldn't help it when he started to wonder what was happening to him though. What was this wound doing to him? Why did it feel so strange? And why was it just this one wound and not the other one too? And Sasuke... Sasuke...

"Don't call me dobe," Naruto demanded as a casual afterthought, and he completely missed the smile that Sasuke hid behind his book.

**~ ( >^.^)> <(^.^<) ~**

Naruto sighed in exasperation and flopped face forward on his bed. He was officially fed up with his entire wardrobe. He couldn't decide what the hell to wear. The whole scenario felt like déjà vu. Why was it that new things involving Sasuke always made him this way? First, it was meeting Sasuke for the very first time as the mysterious artist of that mysterious painting. Now, it was introducing Sasuke to all of his friends.

This really shouldn't have been so damn hard for Naruto. He'd been on plenty of outings with his friends already. He knew that they were a pretty chill group. Everyone always dressed casually—as if you could really take such a big group of college students anywhere fancy enough to dress up anyway—so why was he worrying so much?! He already knew that they liked him. Who was he trying to impress? Well, there was... No! No way! He was  _not_  trying to impress Sasuke! Sasuke wouldn't give two shits about what he wore anyway!

He groaned, wishing that Kiba would just show up at his apartment already. Naruto knew that Kiba would put him straight. He'd either just pick out the clothes or he'd at least make Naruto feel less anxious about the choice. Seeing as he'd been expecting a guest, Naruto didn't find it all that strange to hear a voice suddenly speaking to him.

"Dobe, stop bothering your wound."

"Don't call me that," Naruto answered automatically.

It took a few long seconds before he understood the situation fully. That was definitely  _not_  Kiba's voice, and Kiba would definitely  _not_  call him a dobe. When did Sasuke's presence become so natural to him that he could answer so easily when the bastard so obviously snuck into his home without any invitation and called him a dobe? Not really all that startled or shocked—or, perhaps, unable to be, considering he felt his mood being smoothed again—Naruto sat up slowly, asking, "What're you doing here?"

"If you don't get dressed, we'll be late," Sasuke said simply, ignoring Naruto's question.

"You know I didn't invite you into my home, right?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke began rummaging through Naruto's closet. "How casual are you going?" he asked.

Naruto's mind was drawn to Sasuke's clothes. Sasuke dressed semi-casually, but he never dressed too casual no matter what. He wore a nice leather jacket, and his black jeans were hugging him in all the right ways. His jet black hair was sticking out in lazy spikes in all its unruly glory, only adding to the sexy, I-just-jumped-off-the-back-of-my-Ducati look. Careful to stay within his normal, semi-casual fashion, he wore all black, low-top converse. Naruto had to admit that black could be a bit depressing for him. It always made him look like a really sad puppy or something. It looked really fucking good on Sasuke though. It suited him very well. The contrast of pale skin and dark eyes that were always shining with just a hint of auburn also suited Sasuke very well. Was the animal in Sasuke really so relentless that his eyes could never truly rest? Had the red hue just become his new normal? Speaking of red hues, Sasuke's lips were a delicate shade of red themselves. Picking up on the change in Naruto's aura, Sasuke half-turned to look over his shoulder and smirk at the blond. When he did that with his lips, when he smiled like that right at Naruto...

"I'll go with really casual," Sasuke decided. Naruto furrowed his brows and blinked a few times as he slowly stopped his admiration of Sasuke to come back to reality. "What color do you want?" Sasuke asked, turning back to the closet and rummaging through the clothes again.

"How did you even get in here?" Naruto asked, suddenly put back on track.

"Black?" Sasuke asked, completely ignoring Naruto's question and focusing on his own.

"Or know where I even live?" Naruto asked.

"Blue?" Sasuke asked, still ignoring Naruto's queries.

"Or even what apartment I live in?" Naruto asked.

"Orange?"

Sasuke and Naruto both paused. Sasuke glanced over his shoulder at Naruto's face and nodded.

"Orange it is," he said decidedly.

"What? How do you know I even want orange?" Naruto asked loudly while Sasuke pulled the shirt off its hanger. He turned around and raised a brow at Naruto, throwing the orange tee at the blond.

"I'm a vampire, Naruto," he said simply.

"Yeah, that explains everything," Naruto retorted sarcastically.

Sasuke sighed. "I could sense your uneasiness from a mile away, and I don't even live that far. You were practically screaming for help. You have a window, so I opened it. I could hunt you down anywhere you went. You wear orange every other day, but your heart did fluctuate when I said that color and you stopped talking. You obviously wanted it," Sasuke explained.

Naruto stared at him blankly. Now that he had a good view of Sasuke's front, he could see that the dark grey, button-up shit that Sasuke wore also hugged him in all the right places. For a few seconds, Naruto was lost. Eventually, he was able to gather his wits enough to put on his shirt though. When the shirt was down over his head and he could see Sasuke again, Naruto saw that Sasuke was smirking at him. Unbeknownst to Naruto, Sasuke was enjoying just how flustered Naruto seemed to get around him.

"What?" Naruto asked, feeling self-conscious before Sasuke and shifting uncomfortably.

"Nothing," Sasuke said simply. Naruto began to fidget, and then Sasuke's face hardened. "Stop agitating it, dobe," he said sternly.

Naruto stopped the hand working at his wound and sighed. "I can't help it," he groaned. "I don't even notice when I'm doing it. I just do it all the time."

"I know," Sasuke replied.

"How would you know?" Naruto asked skeptically.

"I'm a vampire," was Sasuke's reply. He checked his watch and then tsked. "If we don't leave now, we'll be late."

"We're gonna be late anyway," Naruto pointed out, putting on his dark orange and worn converse.

"Not if I can help it," Sasuke argued. "You may be fine with projecting a lazy appearance, but I take pride in being prompt."

"So you think we're gonna make it all the way across town in less than three minutes?" Naruto asked.

"I will," Sasuke replied. "And since you're with me, you will too."

"I don't  _try_  to be late, just so you know," Naruto argued, standing up and kicking the clothes on the floor around to look for his jacket. "I was gonna try to be on time."

"What? You thought  _you_  were gonna be able to make it all the way across town in less than three minutes before I showed up?" Sasuke asked mockingly. "You call laying on your bed five minutes before you're supposed to be there trying to be on time? And what are you doing?"

"I was waiting for Kiba!" Naruto defended, kicking his way across the room. "And I'm looking for my jacket."

"Kiba is already on his way to the rink, so he's not coming over," Sasuke informed. "And would it kill you to bend over and  _pick up_  the clothes?"

"What?!" Naruto exclaimed, abandoning his search and turning back toward Sasuke. "He coulda warned me y'know," he grumbled and crossed his arms across his chest to pout.

"I told him not to come," Sasuke admitted, spotting Naruto's jacket and throwing it at the blond's head.

"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed, taking the jacket off his head and pulling it on. "That's not your job!" he complained. "You can't just do that because you want to!"

"Well, I did, so sue me," Sasuke retorted, grabbing Naruto by the wrist and leading him toward the front door. "Just do it while we're leaving."

Naruto rolled his eyes, but found himself smiling. Why was he smiling? It was that weird sensation again, always regulating his mood without his permission.

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked as he locked his door.

"Hn?" was Sasuke's dry reply.

Naruto turned around to face Sasuke with a serious look. "What're you doing to me?"

Sasuke furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"You're a vampire. You should know," Naruto replied sarcastically.

"I'm not doing anything to you, dobe," Sasuke assured.

"Don't call me that," Naruto demanded.

"Sure thing, dobe," Sasuke retorted.

Naruto sighed. "See? I can't even be mad that you're calling me dobe," he pointed out. "How're you doing that?"

"I'm not," Sasuke insisted. "You're doing it on your own. Now, get on my back," Sasuke instructed, turning around and offering his back to Naruto.

"What?!" Naruto blurted out. "You're giving me a piggy back ride? You think  _that's_  gonna get us there faster?"

"Just do it, dobe," Sasuke demanded.

Naruto snorted but conceded. "If you insist," he said, and then he jumped up on Sasuke's back. "It's not li—" Instantly, Sasuke sprang into action and Naruto's breath caught. He could see the world moving by at an impossible speed, but it felt as if Sasuke was just sauntering along easily. Instinctively, he tightened his grip on Sasuke. "I forgot," he whispered. "You can move at the speed of light."

Suddenly, Sasuke came to stop and dropped Naruto. "Not quite, but close enough," he replied. "It's just around this corner now." He started straightening his clothes, even though they were perfectly in order, and Naruto watched him closely. Sasuke was so poised and graceful. After a few moments, Sasuke interrupted Naruto's admiration of him to say, "Let's go."

"Wow!" Sakura exclaimed as the two came into view. "You're actually on time! That's an Uzumaki first!" Naruto was successfully plucked from his reverie only when Sakura pulled him into a hug. Sasuke shifted beside them, catching Sakura's attention. She pulled away from Naruto immediately and grinned. "Who's your friend?" she asked enthusiastically.

"This is Sasuke," Naruto announced loud enough for everyone to hear, though he sounded a little dazed.

"Sakura Haruno!" Sakura said quickly, batting her eyelashes wildly at Sasuke. That brought Naruto to attention.

"Uh, you okay, Sakura?" he asked. "Looks like you got something in your eye."

Sakura scowled at Naruto. "I don't!" she snapped. "Unless... Could you check for me, Sasuke?" she asked, leaning in ridiculously close to the man. Sasuke gently placed both of his hands on her shoulders to stop her from advancing any further. If she did, they'd be kissing. He was positive that he wasn't so weak that he'd be tempted to bite just from that, but there was no point in teasing a bull.

Unaware that Sasuke actually had impeccable control over his urges—despite how he'd reacted around Naruto for the duration of their acquaintance—Naruto began to panic immediately. He just assumed that such proximity would make it difficult for Sasuke to control his thirst. After all, Sasuke had been provoked without even being that close to a human throat before in Naruto's experience. Naruto had no idea what exactly triggered the animal in a vampire, but he would guess that Sakura's current position to Sasuke was on the list. She was practically exposing her throat for the taking! Sasuke showed no signs of stress though. He looked absolutely fine. Naruto furrowed his brows confusedly, maybe even with a little annoyance. Why wasn't Sasuke freaking out?

"I think Naruto's right," Sasuke agreed. "It looks like you  _do_  have something in your eye."

Sakura froze and frowned. She really hadn't thought that out yet. Before she could think of what to do next that would get her even closer to Sasuke, Ino jumped in and shoved her out the way.

"I'm Ino Yamanaka," Ino declared, thrusting one hand toward Sasuke. "Sooo nice to meet you," she said brightly, giggling like the love-struck girl she was.

Sasuke shook Ino's hand politely, perhaps even lingering for a bit longer than necessary. "Nice to meet you too, Ino," he replied, and Ino just melted.

Even Sakura, who'd been about to launch a counter attack at Ino, had to stop and admire the silkiness of Sasuke's voice. Hell, even Naruto was hard pressed not to swoon at the sound. Sasuke could be really dreamy if you weren't on your guard. The sound of both girls sighing in unison pulled Naruto away from any Sasuke-induced dreamland that he may have been entering. Despite the feeling of peace that tried to claim him, Naruto was suddenly very irritated.

Stepping between Sasuke and the girls determinedly, Naruto announced, "Let's not monopolize Sasuke, girls!" Reacting to the death glare he was receiving from both women, he added in his most cheerfully innocent voice, "Let's go! I can't wait to get in the rink!"

"Yeah!" Kiba agreed just as cheerfully. "Let's go already!"

Naruto then noticed for the first time the company in which Kiba was in, and his jaw dropped in shock. That familiar red head of hair didn't look so happy to be out on an ice skating expedition. If the way he was glaring at Sasuke was any indication, then he was especially unhappy about having to deal with the bastard's presence too. When Kiba grabbed Gaara's hand and started tugging him away though, Naruto swore that he saw the hint of a smile cross Gaara's face. He was just about to turn and comment on that to Sasuke when he was interrupted by a flurry of pink and blonde knocking him right out of the way.

"Walk with me, Sasuke!" Ino suggested, hooking one of his arms.

"No, walk with me!" Sakura insisted, hooking the other arm.

Both girls glared at each other across Sasuke's chest. Naruto was sure that Sasuke would break any moment now. If the fact that they were human and full of blood wasn't enough to put Sasuke on edge, then the fact that they were absolutely annoying surely would be. Sasuke didn't break though. He simply smiled sweetly at the girls in that dreamy, charming way.

"Why don't I just walk with you both?" he suggested smoothly.

"Okay," the two women sighed in unison, and the three began walking after the group.

Naruto stared on in shock after them. Did he really just see that happen? Was this  _really_  Sasuke? Sasuke would  _never_  let any two people ever hang onto him like that, and he would certainly never speak to them so sweetly or smile at them so kindly either! This was just ri-fucking-diculous! Just as Naruto was transitioning from shocked to thoroughly annoyed, Sasuke glanced over his shoulder and called, "Come on, dobe. Don't get left behind."

Naruto ground his teeth. "Don't call me that!" he called back and stalked along after the trio.

He was more than glad that the ice skating rink was only down the street from where they'd all met up because he could take no more of Ino and Sakura's incessant babbling or the sickening laughs that Sasuke graced them with. God, he was just so fucking  _different_ , and Naruto kind of hated it. Maybe that was mostly because it was directed at someone other than him though.

When they entered the building, Naruto continued to linger at the back of the group and act moody. Kiba and Gaara put their skates on beside each other while Kiba talked animatedly and Gaara  _tried_  to look uninterested, but failed. Hinata was covertly watching Naruto. Shikamaru and Chouji were complaining about how much work skating would be while TenTen tried to motivate them. Neji simply sat quietly and observed everyone else. Lee was enthusiastically trying to pay for Sakura, who was insisting that she would be skating with Sasuke. All the while, Ino was insisting that Sakura pay for her own damn skates. Sasuke finally decided to end the argument and offered to just pay for all of their skates. Lee was unable to back down from a challenge though.

"I admire your youthful generosity!" he exclaimed enthusiastically. "I should be generous too! Instead,  _I_  shall pay for all our skates!" Then, he promptly handed the cashier a wad of money. "Five pairs please!" he demanded excitedly.

For the first time since the beginning of the evening, Naruto saw Sasuke falter. For a moment, he scowled. Naruto had no idea what that scowl meant, but he was glad that Sasuke wasn't smiling anyway, even if just for that second. He really didn't like all the attention that Sasuke was getting. Sasuke's new attitude was definitely strange, but Naruto did want to use it to his advantage. Maybe he could get some answers out of Sasuke... or, better yet, maybe he could use it to actually get genuinely  _close_  to Sasuke. That had seemed like an impossible task from the second he'd met Sasuke, and it'd seemed even  _more_  impossible after that double date Naruto so stupidly insisted on. It looked like the double date had actually done some good though. Although, he couldn't figure out just how much good it'd done because he couldn't get within three freaking feet of Sasuke with his buffer zone of admirers. To say the least, Naruto was definitely in a sour mood.

Everyone jumped onto the mostly empty rink as they put their skates on. Kiba and Gaara mostly stuck together away from the rest of the group. They went between looking like they were having intense conversations and laughing. Well, Kiba was laughing. Gaara was just refraining from scowling. To Naruto's surprise, Gaara didn't spare one glance for Sasuke the entire time though. It looked like he was too wrapped up in Kiba to remember that the asshole was even there. TenTen kept near Shika and Chouji, trying her best to keep them motivated and succeeding. The three looked like they were having a blast. Neji tagged along beside them only because his girlfriend would've had a cow if he didn't. Sakura and Ino were both latched onto one of Sasuke's arms. Lee, of course, skated around the trio like a madman and tried to impress Sakura with his skill while Naruto skulked along behind them.

After a while, everyone but Kiba and Gaara had ended up skating leisurely along in a group. They all took their turns asking Sasuke questions and laughing at everything he said like it was the best fucking thing they'd ever heard. Naruto kept himself at the back of the pack, glaring at everyone who was so fucking  _enthralled_  with Sasuke. Hinata was the only one who skated behind him, working up the nerve to ask the blond to skate with her alone. After a short while, Sasuke saw his escape when Sakura and Ino began fighting over who thought Sasuke was funnier. The two women finally detached from his arms and everyone began to disperse again, just as they normally did when Sakura and Ino got really into it.

When Sasuke was finally freed, he slowed down his pace to less than a snail and called for Naruto over his shoulder, looking back and smirking at the blond. "Hey, dobe?"

"What?" Naruto asked as begrudgingly as he could, determined to be angry at the bastard for being so... likable. God, that was  _so_  weird!

"Hurry up and come skate with me," Sasuke said.

Not wanting to look as eager as he felt, Naruto meandered up to Sasuke's side slowly, scowling the entire time. He was sure that the ruse was doing him no good though. After all, Sasuke was a vampire. He would've heard the very second that Naruto's heart sped up. He would've seen his fingers fidgeting nervously. There was no hiding that. Still, Naruto pretended to be uninterested anyway because the bastard really deserved it.

After a few seconds of skating side by side in silence while Naruto glared ahead of them, Sasuke asked, "What's your problem?"

Naruto scoffed. "I have no problem. You're making it impossible for me to feel anything but rainbows and butterflies lately," he said.

"I told you," Sasuke said. "You're doing that all on your own. Plus, you don't look like you're feeling rainbows and butterflies right now."

"Whatever," Naruto grumbled. "You should know exactly what I'm feeling."

Sasuke smothered a smirk. "I told you not to come if you don't like skating," he said.

Naruto rolled his eyes and sneered. "That's your solution?" he asked. "Instead of just stepping away from your fanclub for a second, you'd rather just send me home?"

"I did step away from them," Sasuke pointed out. "They were annoying me," he admitted.

"And yet you keep melting them with your charming laugh and smoldering eyes," Naruto retorted bitterly.

"What's the problem with that?" Sasuke asked.

"Nothing," Naruto grumbled.

"I'm being nice," Sasuke said innocently.

"If you wanted to try being nice, you coulda just started with me and Kiba!" Naruto snapped. "You didn't have to start with everyone else under the sun!"

"I did start with you," Sasuke argued calmly, so calmly that it made Naruto even more furious. "I hung out with you at the library."

"The library!" Naruto exclaimed, throwing his hands up dramatically and nearly knocking himself off balance. He managed to catch himself on the arm that he hadn't even realized Sasuke had offered though. "That was stupid," he went on irritably. When he noticed what he was clinging to, he wrinkled his nose in dismay and pushed the offending appendage away. "We were just reading," he added, grumbling unhappily and trying to fight a blush.

" _You_  were rubbing your wound," Sasuke corrected easily.

Naruto could have had no idea to what degree Sasuke's heart took off though. One simple touch. That was all it ever took.

"Oh, shut up!" Naruto said loudly, shoving Sasuke in the shoulder.

"Don't be so jealous," Sasuke teased with a smirk.

Naruto stopped, and Sasuke followed in suit, turning to face Naruto. For a moment, Naruto just stood there looking like a deer in headlights. Then, he exclaimed, "I'm not jealous!" The blush did nothing to help his case though.

"Could've fooled me," Sasuke replied with a shrug.

Naruto shoved Sasuke hard in the chest. Instead of toppling over, Sasuke simple moved back a couple of feet, so smoothly that it looked like he'd  _intended_  to do it. That really ticked Naruto off. He growled and shoved Sasuke again, only to get the same dissatisfying result.

"Just fall!" he demanded, shoving Sasuke again much harder.

This time, Sasuke caught him by the elbows and pulled their bodies close together. "I'm a vampire," he said. "Remember?" Naruto scowled, even though his heart was pounding a million miles a minute. "I don't think  _you_  can knock me off balance," Sasuke added smugly.

Naruto rolled his eyes and snatched his arms from Sasuke's grasp harshly. He skated to the edge of the ice and got off the rink to plop down and sulk on a bench by himself. Slowly, Sasuke meandered over toward the pouting blond. He leaned against the wall that separated the benches and the ice.

"If it makes you feel any better," he began, "you were my first friend." Naruto begrudgingly looked up at Sasuke and saw that his features had hardened, even though the words were soft. He could see that the easiness of Sasuke's mood was clearly wearing off. "Since I'm trying to be nice now," Sasuke went on, "I should be able to talk more openly too, right?" Naruto nodded slowly. "So when you tried to help me at Akatsake that night, it made a difference," Sasuke admitted. "That night, you were the only one who really got to me. And the nights following, you were the only one that I really thought about." Sasuke's face was deadly serious now. "You were what made me decide to try out this new lifestyle. I've been practicing this being normal and having friends thing, but forgive me if I'm not perfect at it right away. You were my first friend in eight years."

"So why have you been avoiding me like the plague since then?" Naruto asked automatically.

Sasuke shrugged. "I didn't know what to do," he admitted. "I've been doing things the same way for a long time. You made me change that up, and I didn't know how to deal with it. Still don't." Sasuke looked down at his hands. "I just wanted to change because you remind me so much of..." He clenched his jaw and let the sentence die. Naruto could see what little difference Sasuke had strived to make so far slipping away. He could literally see Sasuke closing back up again. It must have been the name: Ren. It must still have been so hard. Well, of course it was. It'd only been a few days. Sasuke couldn't make a 180 in that short of a time frame.

And what was Naruto doing? He was getting mad at Sasuke for being good at being normal and making friends. He was chastising Sasuke for fitting in with his group. Why wasn't he supporting Sasuke? Didn't Sasuke just make it real clear that Naruto could actually do that now, that he had a real chance to be close to the guy? What the fuck was Naruto waiting for? Sasuke started shifting to lift himself off the wall, having decided that he'd made enough effort for one day and that he'd rather spend the rest of his evening in the company of no one at all. Naruto jumped up and grabbed both of Sasuke's arms though, pinning them down so that the two men were now face to face across the wall.

"I'm just not used to this new Sasuke," Naruto said softly.

"Me neither," Sasuke agreed. "It's weird for me too."

"I know. You said I helped at the bar though, right?" Naruto asked. Sasuke nodded. "Then, I'll try to help now too. I just don't really know how. It's always been tense between us. Where do we start with this whole friends thing?"

"This is a good spot," Sasuke said, glancing down at Naruto's hands, which still held onto his arms firmly. Naruto blushed lightly when he followed Sasuke's gaze. "I don't feel like I can go anywhere when you're..." Sasuke trailed off and simply gazed at Naruto, which only made the blond blush even harder. Eventually, Sasuke smirked. "I think you get my point," he said.

"What, can't say it out loud? Too chicken?" Naruto teased, attempting to ease the tension slightly.

Sasuke chuckled lightly, but whispered, "Yes, actually." Naruto's smile fell, but Sasuke's did not. "I am too afraid," he said, covertly slipping his arms free from Naruto's grip. "Maybe you can teach me how to be more courageous though," he suggested. Naruto opened his mouth to reply, but Sasuke shushed him. "Save it for another time," he said. "You won't be able to get it out."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"Sasuke~" Sakura sang loudly.

Naruto snorted when he saw the pink-haired girl approaching from behind Sasuke. "How'd you know?" he asked. Sasuke simply raised a brow. "Right," Naruto said, grinning. "You're a vampire."

_To be continued..._


	12. Hallowed Eve

Sasuke buttoned the last button of his black shirt and smoothed the fabric down nicely. After checking himself in the mirror, he moved out of sight to put on his shoes. He peeked back into the mirror to tousle his hair before moving away again and putting on his leather coat. Then, he checked himself fully in the mirror once more. You know, just for good measure. After deciding that he looked perfect, just as he always did, he finally left his mirror and descended into his kitchen to have a drink before leaving. It wouldn't do to be around so many humans without having had at least one packet of blood. Even if supplemental blood wasn't half as satisfying as real blood when it was warm and seeping from the flesh of a human, it would have to do. After all, this was his new life.

After finishing two packets of cold and only slightly decent blood, he crossed to his front door with the intention to leave. He felt the impulsive need to speed back up into his bedroom and check himself in the mirror yet  _again_ though, but he resisted that urge. Instead, he left the apartment at top speed while cursing himself underneath his breath. It was just a Halloween party for god's sake. There was no need for him to be so damn anxious or anything. Although, it wasn't a crime to want to look good, was it? Then again, why was this particular evening such a big deal? It was just Kiba and his friends... and Naruto... not that Naruto really mattered all that much. It was just the dobe. He was nothing to fret over. Right? Right.

Within moments, Sasuke was standing in front of that particular dobe's building. His life's tribulations came to a halt as he rationalized that he was being far too analytic. He decided that he would do no more of that for the rest of the night. He would be as calm and confident as he always was and just go with the flow, even if that wasn't exactly his specialty. That was more along Naruto's line of work. It would work out though. After all, this is Sasuke we're talking about. When did things  _not_  work out? After taking a deep breath and releasing his petty troubles, Sasuke buzzed Naruto's apartment number.

"Who is it?" Naruto asked over the intercom.

"I've come to suck your blood," Sasuke replied in his best Dracula accent.

Shit. Was that too much? Did he just make a complete fool of himself trying to make a joke? He wasn't so good at jokes. Actually, he was terrible at jokes. He wasn't funny at all. He'd never been a particularly funny guy. He was always too serious. Did Naruto dislike that about him? Was he too serious for Naruto? Damn! Why did he have to go and try to make a joke when he was so shitty at that? Wait. Was he being too analytic again? Or had not being analytic enough caused him to say something completely moronic? When Naruto's voice came back, it was laughing a laugh that made Sasuke feel reassured. He'd forgotten how easy Naruto was to please.

"Only if you buy me dinner first," Naruto joked. "I'm not so cheap y'know."

Sasuke chuckled lightly. "You gonna let me in, dobe?"

"Don't call me that!" Naruto demanded, but his tone of voice was still light and cheerful.

"Sure thing, dobe," was Sasuke's reply. Naruto could practically  _hear_  the smirk on his face.

"Tell me who the most handsome man on the earth is first," Naruto commanded playfully.

"Me," Sasuke answered easily. "Now let me in."

"Eh, that works too," Naruto said agreeably. He buzzed Sasuke in, and Sasuke was up the steps and knocking on the door before Naruto even had a chance to stop pressing to buzz button. Naruto opened the door and stared at Sasuke incredulously.

"Holy shit," he said, stepping aside and letting Sasuke in.

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"That must've been a world record!"

Sasuke shrugged and smirked. "Probably."

"Must be nice to be a vampire," Naruto said flippantly, closing his door and brushing past Sasuke to go back into his bedroom.

"Not really," Sasuke said, following Naruto. He found it a bit hard to focus when the latter was walking around all shirtless and whatnot though. His just-out-of-the-shower hair and loose sleeping pants that he must have just thrown on were no help either.

"Why not?" Naruto asked as he turned and plopped down on his bed. Sasuke stopped to stand in front of him.

"It might be fun to move really fast and have extra-sensitive senses and all, but it comes with this annoying urge to kill you and drink your blood," Sasuke replied.

"Touche," Naruto said, leaning back on his hands.

"Why are you relaxing?" Sasuke asked. "You're not even dressed yet."

Naruto shrugged. "I thought I'd let you pick my outfit," he said. When Sasuke simply stared at him, he began to blush. Before he knew it, he was feeling compelled to rub at the back of his neck nervously and avert his suddenly very bashful gaze. How did Sasuke  _do_  that to him?

"Aren't you going in costume?" Sasuke asked.

"I was gonna go as a fox, but I see that you're not in costume," Naruto pointed out timidly. "I didn't want you to be the only one and feel awkward or anything. I figured it would seem like a plan if we both said we were just going as ourselves."

Sasuke fought the urge to grin at Naruto, but he couldn't help it if the dobe was kind of, at risk of sounding like a swooning girl, warming his insides. Naruto was so thoughtful. He had no obligation to Sasuke. If anything, he should've wanted to see Sasuke struggle after the kind of awful behavior Sasuke had displayed since they'd met. Naruto didn't want that though. He was very mindful of Sasuke. It wasn't really a shock to Sasuke or anything. He'd already known that Naruto was the kind of guy to be kind, caring, and compassionate, even if the other person didn't exactly deserve that kind of treatment. It was a whole new thing when Sasuke was the object of that treatment though. Having Naruto think enough of him to be concerned about his feelings made Sasuke want to grin like a moron. He refrained though.

Instead, Sasuke raised a questioning brow and asked, "What makes you think I'm not in costume?"

Naruto raised his own skeptical brow. "Uh, the clothes you're wearing," he answered.

Sasuke twitched his upper lip and flashed his fangs. "I'm going as a vampire," he explained, "but I'll be damned if I give in to any of that cliché bullshit that people associate us with."

"Of course," Naruto said, chuckling lightly. "How did I miss that? It's so you."

"What do you want me to pick out for you?" Sasuke asked as he walked over to Naruto's closet.

"The whole outfit," Naruto replied.

Sasuke glanced over his shoulder at Naruto, who was staring somewhat solemnly down at the ground between his feet. He could feel the blond's attitude shift strangely. "Maybe you should go as the fox," he suggested, looking for the solution to whatever had Naruto's attitude shifting so oddly.

Even though he tried to hide it, Sasuke could feel Naruto's apprehensiveness. Nonetheless, he agreed. "I guess I should," he said quietly.

So that wasn't the answer, Sasuke deduced. "Or maybe you can just go as my date," he suggested, diving into the closet and looking for some decent clothes to match his own. He didn't have to see Naruto's face to feel the uplift in his spirit.

"Why would I wanna do that?" Naruto asked, trying to sound less giddy than he felt... and failing.

Sasuke smiled to himself. Problem solved. The brightness was back. "Because I'm the most handsome man in world, and I'll make you look good," he answered. "You could wear rags and look like a king beside me."

Naruto snorted loudly. "Hah! Yeah right!"

Sasuke chuckled lightly, feeling some more of that warmth spreading within. It was a new sensation, and he decided that it must have just been Naruto. The blond had taken up residence inside Sasuke's chest. When he was bright like this, he warmed Sasuke's core. When his attitude did those weird shifts though—the ones that didn't seem like they had any real direct cause—Sasuke felt uneasy. Thus, it was his goal to preserve Naruto's light. He had to keep his dobe smiling because, frankly, it felt really good to be able to bask in his warmth. It had been a very long time since Sasuke had felt like this though. Was this friendship? Yes, he supposed that it was, and then some.

**~ **( >^.^)> <**(^.^<) ~**

"Don't be nervous," Naruto said. "They're fun. They like you. You already know that. There's no reason to get nervous. They'll think you look great. I know it. You'll be fine. It'll all be—"

"Dobe," Sasuke interrupted, "I'm not nervous."

Naruto rang the door bell. "Right. Of course you're not," he said.

If he were standing next to anyone else, Naruto wouldn't have seemed so anxious. He was standing next to Sasuke though, and Sasuke could feel all of Naruto's emotions vividly. He thought that he'd gotten rid of that weird shift in Naruto's aura. Now it was back though. What did Sasuke have to do to eliminate it? Naruto was freaking out, but Sasuke couldn't understand  _why._  These were his friends.

"You'll be fine," Sasuke assured quietly.

"God damnet," Naruto cursed as he made a sudden realization. "I forgot teeth." It seemed like a calm statement, but Sasuke could tell that it was enough to make Naruto want to abort this mission, if the feelings that he was trying so hard to hide were any indication. "Oh well," Naruto said, seemingly shrugging it off just as Ino answered the door.

"Sasuke!" she exclaimed, and then Naruto's mood went from anxious right to irritated. "I'm so glad you're here! You look so great! What are you?!"

Sasuke glanced at Naruto momentarily and retracted his teeth almost imperceptibly. "Myself," he said easily, choosing to abandon his costume idea so that Naruto didn't have to feel like an outcast. It wasn't like he needed anything else to be anxious about, since just being here, apparently, was a damn chore for the dobe. "Naruto and I—"

"Don't lie, Sasuke," Naruto interrupted, a big smile on his face. "Sasuke's a vampire. Come on, Sasuke. Show her your teeth."

Sasuke stared at Naruto questioningly for a moment. Why was he thwarting Sasuke's attempt to band with him? Naruto simply raised an expectant brow.

"OH!" Ino exclaimed when Sasuke finally extended his teeth. "WOW! That's so cool! How does that thing work?! You must've spent a lot of money on such a trick!" Sasuke shrugged and forced himself to smile pleasantly, even if all he was really interested in was what Naruto could be thinking. "What about you Naruto?" Ino asked eagerly. "Are you a vampire too? You have some of those fancy things?"

"Nahhhh," Naruto said lightly, "I'm not flashy like this guy. I'm just me."

Ino rolled her eyes. "Way to be cheap, Naruto." She moved aside to make room for the two to enter. "You still look good though!" she added as Naruto passed her.

"Don't I always?" Naruto replied with a grin. Sasuke could see right through it though.

There was no sincerity in that smile. It was fake, and it was sickening. In fact, it was so sickening that Sasuke found himself fighting the urge to scowl at the back of Naruto's head. A smile like that looked ugly on Naruto. How had Sasuke never noticed this before? Had he really paid so  _little_  attention to Naruto? He felt like he'd always been paying extra attention to the man simply because he was trying so hard to actually ignore him. Had he really been so blind though, even when he was so vigilant? Had he truly never seen signs of such a broken, fragile guy like these? Had he never noticed just how insincere that smile was or how forced that laughter seemed to be? Had Sasuke always been so clueless? Had they all?

"Why'd you interrupt me earlier?" Sasuke asked quietly while Ino took their coats away. "I was gonna say that we both just came as ourselves so that it seemed like a plan."

"Why would you do that?" Naruto asked, appearing to be genuinely clueless.

So the dobe was not only going to purposely deny Sasuke's help, but he was going to act stupid too. Now that they were doing the whole friends thing, Sasuke had felt their bond magnify tenfold. Vampire senses were extraordinary all the time. Most of the time, however, vamps could only pick up on minute changes in a person's aura if they were paying special attention to that person. Sasuke could feel the tiniest shift in the wind when it came to Naruto though. Ever since that night at Akatsake, Sasuke felt his connection to Naruto intensify extensively. He could read Naruto even more easily than before, so he could tell that Naruto knew exactly what he was doing when he deliberately interrupted Sasuke. Now Sasuke just had to figure what that reason was.

He rolled his eyes at Naruto. "You said that you wouldn't want me to feel awkward by being the only one not in costume," he pointed out. "I was just extending you the same courtesy. Why'd you reject it?"

"Why would I feel awkward?" Naruto asked. "These are my friends. They won't care if I dress up or not. No need for me to feel social anxiety or anything."

Sasuke really wished that he could just read Naruto's mind at this point. Every little thing that Naruto felt, Sasuke felt too. Even when they were literally miles apart, Sasuke was constantly tuned in to Naruto on a subconscious level. He was even monitoring Naruto's vitals to look for even the slightest bodily reactions too. Even if he could catch Naruto in a lie or feel his emotional state of being so easily, he still didn't know what was going on in that head. And it seemed like there was an awful lot going on in there. Naruto wasn't half the idiot that he pretended to be. Now that things were slowly changing between them, their bond was only getting stronger by the second. So when Naruto laughed such a fake laugh and smiled such a fake smile, Sasuke couldn't help but notice. He couldn't help but be disturbed by it either.

"Dobe," Sasuke began.

He fully intended to call Naruto out and... well... he didn't really know, actually. He wasn't sure if he should be sympathetic or reprimanding or if maybe he should just pretend to be ignorant. He had to say something to Naruto though, because whatever was going on inside the other's head seemed off to Sasuke, and he was afraid that all those things might be markers for something really huge in Naruto's life. Sasuke had an obligation to figure it out and at least try to offer help, didn't he? They were friends now. Isn't that what friends did? More importantly, Sasuke just wanted to be in on Naruto's secrets. If it brought them closer together, then who would complain?

"Sasuke! You  _must_  have a drink!" Ino insisted, reappearing and interrupting Sasuke's half-baked speech.

She began dragging the man away from the entryway and into the living room, where the party was in full swing. Naruto's smile dropped immediately, and he scowled at the back of Ino's head as he trailed along behind the pair—something that Sasuke didn't have to see to recognize because he could feel it radiating from Naruto.

"What do you prefer?" Ino asked once they made it to the drink station.

Sasuke looked over the bottles of alcohol quickly. "I don't know. What'll you have, dobe?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder at an annoyed Naruto, who tried to hide his disgruntled expression immediately. The emotion flooding his aura didn't fade an ounce though.

"I'm a beer guy!" Naruto said brightly, wedging himself in between Sasuke and Ino to get to the keg.

"Sounds good to me," Sasuke decided, not at all disappointed by Naruto's obtrusive gesture. He smiled softly at the blond and touched his back ever so lightly in a covert attempt to lift his sour mood. Naruto paid him no mind though. Apparently, the keg required extra special attention, attention that could not be wasted on recognizing Sasuke's efforts. Sasuke was tempted to sigh bleakly at this disheartening failure. He hadn't really realized it, but it seemed like he was a bit more invested in Naruto than he'd ever thought before.

"Are you sure you don't want something a little bit stronger though?" Ino asked, holding up a bottle of vodka and grinning at Sasuke across Naruto. "I do good with shots," she added with a wink.

"You do not!" Sakura refuted, appearing out of nowhere. She shoved Naruto out of the way to get in between Ino and Sasuke herself as she spoke. "You are a sloppy drunk, Ino," she said insultingly.

Luckily, Sasuke had already been anticipating Sakura's actions. Had it not been for him snaking an arm around Naruto's waist to steady him just moments before Sakura even had a chance to appear, Naruto would have been knocked over completely. His now full beer did become quite the dangerous weapon though, threatening to drench him completely as it began to topple over, but Sasuke had anticipated that as well. His hand was already wrapped around Naruto's, stilling the cup and keeping even a drop from spilling over the edge. That was how Naruto ended up pulled right up to Sasuke's chest with just his red solo cup to separate their hearts, one of which was pounding much, much,  _much_  more furiously than the other.

"Vodka is your enemy," Sakura proclaimed in Ino's face. Then, she smiled a sinister smile. "Well, maybe I s _hould_  just let you down the whole bottle."

Sasuke thought that he would've been content to simply stay there like that. Hell, he might have even got a bit ballsy and tried to—

"Naruto!"

Deep breath.  _I will not kill Ino. I will not kill Ino. I will not kill Ino_. Sasuke's new mantra for the night.

"Get Sakura a beer, won't you?" Ino asked, glaring steadily at her roommate.

Even though neither woman looked away from the other to pay any mind to what kind of proximity that their friend and their crush were currently in, Naruto jumped and wiggled out of Sasuke's grip quickly anyway, as if he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Oh! Wait!" Ino went on to exclaim in a mock revelation, still very ignorant of what had just transpired between Naruto and Sasuke. "I forgot! Beer gives you gas!"

Sakura gasped. "At least  _I_  don't go—"

Ino slapped her hand over Sakura's mouth to cut her off. "Shut up!" she shrieked.

"Sakura!" Lee sang from somewhere across the room.

Sakura's eyes widened and Ino's narrowed evilly. Sakura began shaking her head frantically, begging her friend not to rat her out. She'd been trying to avoid Lee all night. She was glad they were friends and all. He was a really great, fun guy. He was just a little too enthusiastic about his "love" for her, and it was ten times worse when he drank alcohol. Her pleading eyes didn't affect Ino though.

"She's over here!" Ino shouted, waving her arm up in the air for Lee to spot.

Sakura growled at the blond, ripping the girl's hand from her mouth. "Dance with me!" she demanded of Sasuke.

Sasuke was busy plotting a way to get that close to Naruto again though, too busy to respond right away. Naruto, on the other hand, was busy looking for the answers to life in his beer cup and fighting the blush that kept trying to invade his cheeks.

"No! Dance with me!" Ino exclaimed, snatching Sasuke's wrist.

When Ino and Sakura's bickering became too much to handle, which was fairly quickly, Sasuke made an executive decision. "I'll dance with you both," he suggested.

"NO!" the two women said in unison, equally disgusted. The look in Naruto's eyes as he snapped his head to attention echoed their displeasure.

Sasuke smiled that charming smile though. "Ladies," he nearly sang, and then their fate was sealed.

"Okay," they sighed at once, melting beside him.

An extremely drunk Lee showed up just in time to see Sasuke leading the two women out into the middle of the crowded room to dance, and an extremely jaded Naruto stood glaring at the same scene. In Sasuke's mind, an angry glare from Naruto was better than being ignored though. Some form of attention from the other was all that he wanted. He also wanted to shut the women up because they were annoying. Plus, if he let Naruto build up the tension all by his lonesome, then Sasuke was sure that he'd eventually get his chance to be close to him again. The best part about it was that it would be of Naruto's own volition. That was what had Sasuke smirking. That made dancing with these women bearable.

"Wazgononn?" Lee asked. When Naruto didn't reply, he tried again. "Alllooo? I said wasgonnonnnom?" He hiccupped loudly. He was just about to shout at his blond friend when TenTen appeared out of nowhere.

"Lee!" she exclaimed, clasping the man on his shoulder. "I've been looking everywhere for you! Neji needs you for pong! Come on, you oaf!"

"Alright!" Lee exclaimed excitedly, forgetting about Sakura in an instant. "I shall beofservss!"

TenTen simply laughed happily and nodded her head. There was no use trying to actually understand Lee when he was drunk. It was better to just nod and agree. Lee hurried off toward the kitchen where Neji would be waiting for him.

"Oh! Naruto!" TenTen exclaimed happily. He turned his glare to TenTen and raised one intolerant eyebrow as if to ask 'What the fuck do you want'. TenTen simply smiled sweetly, seeming to completely miss the aura of death radiating off of him. "Hinata needs a partner, and I really suck at beerpong," she informed. "You play!"

Before Naruto could say no, TenTen started dragging him off toward the kitchen too. He sighed and sipped at his beer. This was going to be a long night. He could feel it.

"I got you a partner, Hinata!" TenTen exclaimed once they got to the beerpong table.

"O-Oh! H-Hi, N-Naruto," Hinata said shyly, blushing bright red. "I-I'm so glad that y-you want to p-play with me."

"Sure," Naruto grumbled half-heartedly. The only person he really cared to pretend to be happy around was Sasuke. He didn't want the other to see just how much he could affect Naruto. "Let's just get this going."

"O-Okay," Hinata said meekly.

As Naruto and Neji were deciding who would go first, Hinata glanced over to see TenTen winking at her and nodding encouragingly, causing her to flush an even deeper shade of red. For the entire game, Naruto kept glancing obsessively over at Sasuke, only to see him dancing with a new girl every time. Although, Ino and Sakura were never all that far away. With each new girl that Sasuke danced with, Naruto's attitude got worse. Not that he really cared, but they were losing the game drastically because of it. Hinata wasn't on her game either. She was too busy trying to make idle conversation with her crush. Naruto was unresponsive though. His answers were all noncommittal and vague. It didn't help that Lee was surprisingly awesome at pong when he was drunk either. It seemed like he was good at everything except talking.

"O-Oh," Hinata said timidly. "L-Looks like we lost."

Naruto's response was a mindless grunt, as he was too busy scowling at some redheaded whore dancing with Sasuke like a total slut. He narrowed his eyes at her. He really had to think of a way to get the bastard away from all these girls. They were just so possessive, like Sasuke was  _theirs_  or something. Not that Sasuke was  _his_  or anything... but he kind of was.

"I-I guess I can d-drink this then," Hinata said quietly.

"Naruto!" Neji hollered, snapping Naruto out of his daze.

"What? My turn?" Naruto asked.

Neji rolled his eyes. "You lost. Be a gentleman and drink all this shit. Don't make my little cousin do it all on her own," he demanded.

"Oh. Right," Naruto said as he stared at all the beer he had to drink for losing.

"If you were gonna stare at Sasuke the whole time, then why'd you even play?" Neji asked bluntly.

Naruto blushed but managed to hide it behind a loud snort. "Yeah right!" he exclaimed.

"Jealous of all the attention he's getting?" Neji asked.

"Please!" Naruto boomed. "I already know that I'm sexy!" he said confidently, following up with a hearty laugh. It must have been a good ruse because everyone began laughing along with him. "All right!" he said spiritedly. "Let's get smashed!" He started chugging all the beer quickly, leaving Hinata with none.

"I-I can h-help," she insisted, but Naruto simply shook his finger at her while he drank.

When he finished the last bit of beer, he dropped the cup onto the table and smiled at her. "Neji's right. I should be a gentleman. Don't you think?" he said, clapping Hinata on the shoulder. She blushed deeply. "Wow," he went on, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "We really lost by a lot. I'm really starting to feel all that beer."

After a glance to TenTen for support, Hinata suggested that they play again. Naruto couldn't find it within him to say no. If he just purposely lost again, then he'd get to chug all the beer. If he was going to have to watch Sasuke's shenanigans all night, then he might as well be drunk. Plus, his friends clearly liked him better when he was laughing and joking around, even if he was just faking it. It was easier to fake when he was smashed too. After all, it was a party. It was time for him to get into the mood.

That was how Naruto ended up purposely losing three games in a row and refusing to let Hinata drink a single cup. After pong, Lee challenged Naruto to a competition to see who could chug a full beer the fastest. Naruto, of course, eagerly accepted. In fact, he eagerly accepted until he finally beat Lee on his fifth try. He even got to witness TenTen and Hinata go at it. Surprisingly, Hinata was a beast. She beat TenTen before TenTen was even halfway done with her beer. At that point, Naruto was feeling pretty drunk, so he didn't question it when Kiba appeared out of thin air and pulled him away for a little chat in a quiet corner of the kitchen.

"Naruto, you need to grow a pair of balls," Kiba said.

Naruto looked at him with a shocked expression. "Scuse me?" he asked, a little bit of a slur working its way into his voice.

"I said, grow some balls," Kiba repeated matter-of-factly.

"The fuck?" Naruto asked, feeling very offended. Then, he seemed to finally realize who he was talking to. "Kiba...?"

"Who else?!" Kiba said. "Are you really that drunk?"

"Wooooaaahhh," Naruto said dramatically. "When'd you get here? I haven't seen you all night!"

Kiba rolled his eyes, but he was smiling uncontrollably. "I've been around, with Gaara of course."

Naruto perked up. "Are you back together then?" he asked excitedly.

Kiba blushed. "Uh... Well... I don't know. This isn't about me anyway. It's about you," he said, evading the question skillfully. Although, a drunk Naruto wasn't that hard to fool.

"Right," Naruto said, nodding his head seriously. "It's about me not having any balls."

"Exactly," Kiba agreed.

"Wait! I'm offended!" Naruto realized.

Kiba shook his head. "Naruto, I'm trying to give you some advice," he said.

Naruto cocked his head to the side curiously. "About what?" he asked.

"The object of your affection," Kiba replied.

Thoughtlessly, Naruto looked back over to Sasuke and scowled because now the bastard was emptying a  _full_  bottle of vodka. Looked like Ino had gotten her way in the end. Naruto watched Sasuke down the bottle in record speed. When he was done, all the women around him cheered ecstatically and found ways to touch him suggestively.

"This is the time, Naruto," Kiba said, earning Naruto's attention once more. "Now is the time to go for what you want. Before, it would've been too soon. Now, I think Sasuke is ready. So grow some balls or else someone else might get him for good."

Naruto suddenly realized what Kiba was saying to him in its entirety. "Woah!" he said, waving his hands defensively. "Th-that's not... I-I... I don't... I... Sasuke... He and I..."

"Can it," Kiba interjected. "Don't forget who you're talking to. I know I've been kinda vacant lately, but things are finally looking up for me again. I'm feeling like my old self, and I'm being a good friend and letting you know that it's time to man up." With that, Kiba nodded, smiled, and then walked away, leaving a stunned Naruto to stare blankly after him.

When Naruto looked back to Sasuke again, he was surprised to see the latter already looking right at him. That had been the first time that Sasuke had glanced at Naruto all night. Well, it was the first time that Naruto had seen him do it anyway. It made Naruto blush. Maybe Kiba was right though. Maybe it was finally time. Maybe Naruto just needed to man up and go for it. Those eyes were beckoning him. Sasuke wouldn't look away, and neither would Naruto. So it was no surprise that Naruto was completely oblivious to Hinata when she showed up at his side.

"Hey, N-Naruto," she said meekly. No reply, so she went on. "I-I was j-just thinking th-that m-m-maybe y-you w-would... um..." She glanced over at TenTen who nodded vigorously. "U-Uh... I-I... U-Uh... Oh, fuck it." She pulled the blond down and kissed him.

Naruto just barely caught the look of disgust that may or may not have crossed Sasuke's face before the man turned away. Being as drunk as he was, it took a few seconds for Naruto to realize that he was being kissed, and that it wasn't Sasuke kissing him. Immediately, but as politely as possible, he pulled away. Hinata stared at him, looking completely unfazed and confident. He wanted to smile at her, but he was sure that it came out as a grimace instead.

"Um... I... Hinata, I kind of like someone else already," Naruto said slowly. "I... I don't think... I mean... uh..."

"Oh," Hinata said quietly, her confidence deflating quickly. She stared down at the ground. Naruto felt a pang of guilt surge through him, but he was more concerned with the head of black hair making its way toward the front door.

"Um... We'll have to talk later," he said hurriedly. "I've gotta go and..." He left that sentence hanging as he suddenly just walked away. He followed Sasuke's hair rather calmly until it went through the front door. Then, he began pushing through the people dancing in the middle of the room more roughly, wanting to get outside before the bastard could just disappear. Just as he got out the front door, a hand at his elbow stopped him.

"You idiot!" Neji exclaimed angrily.

Naruto looked at him confusedly. "What?" he asked innocently, looking distractedly over his shoulder to try to spot Sasuke.

"You made my cousin  _cry_ ," Neji said, glaring at Naruto, "and then you just  _walked away_!"

"Oh, that," Naruto replied vacantly, still glancing around for Sasuke. "I didn't mean to. I'm just kind of trying out this new idea of going for what I really want."

"You don't need to trample over Hinata along the way!" Neji retorted. That earned him Naruto's full attention.

"She just kissed me out of nowhere!" Naruto defended. "I didn't  _ask_  her to!"

"You didn't ask her not to either!" Neji argued. "You just stared off into the distance all vacant-like! Are you retarded?! Do you not  _know_  when someone is flirting with you, or do you just not care?! Are you just that much of an asshole that you'd lead someone on like that?!"

Naruto glared at Neji. "We're friends, Neji, but I'll punch you right here and now," he warned. "I wouldn't purposely do anything to hurt Hinata! You know that!"

"I should knock you the fuck out!" Neji very nearly shouted. "You're a selfish asshole sometimes, Naruto!" He tightened his grip on Naruto's elbow. "Think with your fucking brain!" he exclaimed. "Or are you really too fucking stupid to—" He was cut off as Sasuke suddenly appeared, grabbed his wrist, and ripped his hand from Naruto's arm.

"Don't touch him," Sasuke warned in a dangerous tone.

Neji simply snorted. "What are you gonna do?" he spat. Suddenly, he was thrown backward and pinned up against the wall by his throat. Instinctively, one hand went to the fingers wrapped around his neck while the other pushed futilely against Sasuke's chest. He wheezed as he struggled to breathe.

"You don't wanna know," Sasuke ground out.

"Let him go!" Naruto exclaimed quickly. "You'll hurt him, Sasuke!"

Sasuke growled defiantly but dropped Neji obediently. Neji gasped for air but stayed standing tall to glare at the man. They shared a long, tense moment before Naruto intervened again by lightly touching Sasuke's shoulder from behind.

"Sasuke," he said quietly. It was soft and gentle, but it was enough to reign the beast in. Sasuke's muscles relaxed, but neither his eyes nor his fangs eased up. Eventually, Neji simply left the two men alone and went back inside, rubbing his throat tenderly. When Neji was out of sight, Naruto asked, "Don't you think that was a bit much?"

"He touched you inappropriately," Sasuke ground out, still glaring at the spot where Neji had been standing.

"Only because I accidentally hurt Hinata's feelings," Naruto defended. "He was protecting her, and it was fair. You didn't have to crush his windpipe over it."

In a flash, Sasuke had Naruto pinned to the very same spot where Neji had just been. He held both of Naruto's wrists over his head and hovered his body close enough to share body heat without touching. "Let's get one thing straight," he whispered close enough to Naruto's mouth for their breath to mingle. Naruto took in a shuddering breath as he stared raptly at Sasuke's lips. "If I want to kill someone for touching you, then I will because I  _can_. I'm a killer, Naruto. Don't forget that." Slowly, Sasuke leaned away, but he didn't release Naruto.

Naruto swallowed thickly, negligent of just how tempting that made his throat to Sasuke. "Are you trying to scare me?" he asked.

Sasuke snorted. "I don't need to try," he assured smugly.

Naruto leaned forward, thinking that maybe he could get a hold of those sinful lips, or maybe not really  _thinking_  at all. Sasuke moved out of reach though. In response, Naruto sighed with disappointment. "I'm not scared of you," he insisted, "especially not right now. You don't look scary. You look..." He trailed off as his eyes began to rove over what he could see of Sasuke's physique.

"Don't do that," Sasuke demanded quietly.

Naruto met Sasuke's eyes again. "Why not? I can't appreciate you?" he asked, a tantalizing smirk on his lips.

Sasuke's eyes grew deeper and his grip grew tighter on Naruto's wrists. "No," he said in a low voice, "you can't because it makes me want to bite you."

Naruto wouldn't be shut up so easily though. "Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing," he mused.

"No?" Sasuke asked, suddenly leaning in and placing his lips against Naruto's neck. "Not even if it  _killed_  you?" he asked, his teeth grazing the skin. It didn't have quite the affect that he'd been hoping for though, as Naruto was barely able to stifle a pleased whimper.

Who did this idiot think that he was? Didn't he understand what he was getting into? Didn't he know what Sasuke was capable of? Didn't that matter? How could he play with Sasuke so easily? After all, that was all this was, wasn't it? It was just Naruto having some fun. Sasuke was unlovable, untouchable. He always had been. Being a vampire had sort of sealed that fate a long time ago.

Naruto could never truly care for Sasuke. This was just some surface attraction. Sasuke was hot, after all. Who wasn't attracted to him? Naruto was just playing a game with Sasuke... but Sasuke was playing along. He was giving in. He was fucking  _changing_  for the dobe. He had  _already_  changed so much for him. The old Sasuke would have had Naruto's throat ripped out weeks ago already. This Sasuke couldn't though. This Sasuke didn't understand what Naruto was doing to him or  _why_. Why was Naruto doing this?

"What do you want from me?" Sasuke asked, suddenly very serious as he pulled away from Naruto's neck and tightened his grip a bit.

Naruto's eyes found Sasuke's again. "What do you mean?" he asked quietly, growing serious too.

"Why have you been so interested in me all this time?" Sasuke asked. Naruto blushed lightly. "You have a crush on me?" Sasuke asked. Naruto blushed even more deeply. "I knew it," Sasuke said. He snorted and tightened his grip severely. Naruto winced against the bruises forming on his wrists, but Sasuke ignored him. He leaned in close again, except it wasn't half as seducing to Naruto this time around. Such pain has a tendency to put a real damper on one's mood though. Naruto couldn't help the grimace on his face. "I'm not a pet," Sasuke snarled. "Your fascination is insulting me."

Only when Naruto whimpered quietly and began gritting his teeth did Sasuke finally let him go. Immediately, the blond rubbed his wrists tenderly. When he looked back up, he was presented with a view of the back of Sasuke's head. He simply watched Sasuke for a few moments as he thought of what he wanted to say in reply.

"Give me some credit," he finally said. "I am a little deeper than that." He moved to stand beside Sasuke and stared at the man's profile. His teeth had still yet to retract, though his eyes had cleared up a little bit. "I don't want a pet," Naruto said quietly. Sasuke's facial expression didn't change. Cautiously, Naruto lifted his hand and carded it through Sasuke's hair. He had to smile at the way Sasuke unintentionally relaxed into the touch. He shuffled a little closer so that his chest was pressed against Sasuke's shoulder and then leaned forward even more to whisper in Sasuke's ear, "I want  _you_."

Sasuke went rigid and stood as still as a stone. After a few seconds of uncertainty, Naruto removed his hand from Sasuke's hair and began to think that maybe this encounter was a failure. Sasuke wasn't really reacting at all though, so he wasn't exactly sure. He lingered for a few more seconds before deciding that it was definitely a failure and that he was absolutely humiliated. After all, that was one of his best attempts at seducing and Sasuke was just standing there, like it hadn't just happened. Feeling stupid, Naruto began walking away hurriedly. God, he felt like such a fool. It wasn't just an attempt at seduction. That was kind of a confession too. He wanted more than just Sasuke's body. Sasuke was just fucking  _standing_  there though! Suddenly, Naruto was running, perhaps with the intentions of outrunning the awful feeling in his chest.

Suddenly, however, Sasuke was forcing Naruto to a halt. He grabbed both of Naruto's elbows tightly from behind and gently pulled Naruto to a stop. Naruto just stood there, huffing heavily and waiting for the bastard to say something. Finally, Sasuke spun Naruto around and, without any warning, kissed him deeply. At first, Naruto was far too shocked to react. He'd never kissed a man before! It took a moment for his drunken mind to compute that, yes, in fact, he had kissed men before. He'd always been drunk and out of his mind though. Just like he was now, actually. But, then again, he wasn't kissing Sasuke.  _Sasuke_  was kissing  _him_. So he'd never been  _kissed by_  a man before! But what did that have to do with anything?

Kissing Sasuke seemed like it deserved its own category completely, so it really didn't matter who'd he'd kissed before. Naruto hadn't even reciprocated the kiss yet, but it already felt a thousand times better than a kiss could ever feel with anyone else. Naturally, when Naruto kissed back, it was like proverbial fireworks exploded in his head. Now  _this_  was a fucking kiss. It didn't last nearly long enough though because Sasuke pulled away quickly. Before Naruto could even ask what was up, Sasuke had picked him up bridal-style and they were moving at the speed of light.

Naruto was glad that it didn't take that long to get back to his apartment because all he wanted to do was more and more kissing. Well, he thought that maybe he'd start with a real confession first, the confession that Sasuke deserved. Even if he was a vampire and even if he was Sasuke, he still had human emotions. After everything that Naruto had learned about the guy, Sasuke must have just been yearning for affection for years now. He was just too afraid or unequipped to ask for it. Now was Naruto's chance to change that though. Sasuke set him down in front of the building and took a giant step back away from him.

"What?" Naruto asked, feeling very put off. "Am I that bad at kissing?"

Sasuke didn't take the joke so lightly though. "We can't," he said simply and sternly. He looked ready to bolt, and that expression worried Naruto. He didn't want Sasuke running back to his old self, not after they'd gotten so far, not after Naruto had gotten to close.

"Wait," Naruto pleaded, reaching out and grabbing one of Sasuke's hands. "Don't go yet. I have a lot that I wanna say still." Sasuke's expression was pained, but he didn't move. "Just talk with me," Naruto insisted. "You said you wanted to change and I said that I would help, so talk with me."

Sasuke's expression grew even more pained. He was tempted to stay. He knew that Naruto wasn't going to jump his bones or anything. He could feel the blond's intentions easily. He truly just wanted to talk, but could Sasuke handle that? Was he ready? It might be easier for him to battle his thirst while necking with Naruto than actually trying to have a real talk with the guy. No, Sasuke wasn't ready. Maybe that made him a coward, but he was okay with that for now. He couldn't cross that threshold and go back into Naruto's apartment. He had to get away. He was feeling suffocated. He wasn't ready for this. It was too much at once. He wanted to go back in time to when things made sense. Vampire. Thirst. Blood. Kill. That was easy. Suddenly, his thirst was multiplied. Now he  _really_  couldn't stay a second longer or else he would snap.

"We can't," he repeated simply, and then he was gone.

_To be continued..._


	13. He Loves Me Not

Sasuke lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling. After a few moments of tense silence, he sighed and looked to his left.

"You have to go home," he said.

A shocked Sai, who'd already been staring at him, frowned. "What?" he asked. "I'm offended. You'd throw me out so easily after a night like that?"

"I said, go home," Sasuke said flatly.

Sai snorted. "Yeah right," he said, turning onto his back and staring up at the ceiling with a cocky grin in place.

Sasuke scowled and sat up in his bed. "I mean it, Sai," he said sternly.

"What happened to you, Sasuke?" Sai asked, sitting up as well. "I was pretty understanding when you decided to stop hunting with me. Personal preference. Whatever. But now? Now you're just some little pet, aren't you? Prancing around for your sweet little human."

Sasuke growled at Sai and narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Watch it Sai, or else..."

Sai barked with laughter. "Or else what?" he asked. "Using your daddy's status to threaten people now? That it?"

Sasuke growled and pinned Sai down on the bed violently. "No, I'm saying that if you don't back the fuck up, I'll kill you myself," he snarled.

Sai smirked, letting his own teeth come out to play. He lifted his head slowly, staring into Sasuke's eyes and judging the situation. Sasuke didn't back up, so Sai took that as an invitation to advance further. Sasuke continued to glare at him menacingly, even when their lips finally touched. The contact was too tender for Sai though, and tender just wasn't in his nature. He switched their positions in a flash, and Sasuke didn't fight him. He simply let Sai have his way. Once on top of Sasuke, Sai jerked the man's head back by pulling on his hair and licked up the column of his neck.

"It's so hot when you talk like that," he whispered in Sasuke's ear.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I wasn't trying to turn you on."

"Too bad," Sai replied, sucking a particularly sensitive spot on Sasuke's neck. "Mission failed," he said, and then he bit into Sasuke's neck harshly.

Immediately, Sasuke bucked his hips and growled, his hands gripping Sai's sides roughly. Sai moaned loudly as he sucked the wound on Sasuke's neck. Sasuke hissed angrily, so Sai obligingly placed his wrist against Sasuke's lips. Without a second thought, Sasuke latched on and began sucking from the wound there too. For a few, blissful minutes, they simply fed on each other that way.

Once Sai decided that he'd had enough, he detached from Sasuke's throat. Sasuke didn't stop, but Sai didn't protest. He let Sasuke continue while he ground down on the man's hips, scratching trails down Sasuke's chest with the nails of his free hand. Sasuke growled and gripped Sai's wrist harder. Just as he was getting lost in ecstasy, Sasuke's entire field of vision blurred heavily before refocusing again. He recognized the sensation immediately and shoved Sai off of him. In less than a second, he was standing in front of a window in his living room, poised to jump out in all his half-naked glory. Sai hissed disapprovingly, but Sasuke ignored him. His vision blurred again and he felt a light pulse in his head. He gripped the window sill tightly, debating on what to do and feeling the situation out. He often overreacted to these things. But if he didn't act at all, then he'd get really restless and irritable. Sai was at his side a moment later, rubbing his shoulders.

"Come back to bed," he whispered in Sasuke's ear, pressing his body against Sasuke's back fully. If Sasuke had been a lesser man, he would've been persuaded.

"No," Sasuke said decidedly as he turned and walked back up into his room to get dressed. "I've gotta go, and so do you."

Sai growled. "What's the fucking deal with that boy?" he ground out. "We're not made to love to them, Sasuke. We're made to kill them."

"You wouldn't understand," Sasuke replied, "and how would you even know where I'm going?"

"It's not rocket science," Sai said, rolling his eyes. "Plus, I still get a little inkling from my blood bond. You haven't quite won him over yet."

Sasuke looked over his shoulder at Sai with dark eyes and bared fangs. "All the better reason for you to  _leave_!" he spat. If Sai had been a lesser man, he would've been intimidated. When Sai didn't move, Sasuke added, "I will fucking kill you, Sai. Get out."

Not wanting to cause unnecessary trouble, Sai sighed. "Fine," he said unhappily as he walked up the steps into the bedroom to gather his things. Despite having vampire speed, he went about his business very slowly.

He knew that he was fairly matched with Sasuke, even though Sasuke was pretty terrifying when he got serious. Sai didn't want to rile him up for no good reason though. Sasuke was still his toy. He enjoyed playing with the man, and he didn't want to lose these little sexcapades. Driving Sasuke away would only put Sai himself in a bad mood. Plus, maybe once Sasuke got his little blond fuck, then they could play with him together. After all, Sasuke was bound to get over this whole domesticated bullshit as soon as he got what he wanted, and he obviously wanted Naruto.

As soon as he felt Sai's presence disappear from the area, Sasuke finished dressing at lightning speed and left too. Moments later, he was crouching on the garden ledge of a familiar window. The window was open though, something that it had never been before. Warily, Sasuke crawled in. He crept to the doorway and quietly listened to Naruto mumble to himself. He didn't need to hear the words to understand what Naruto was saying though, seeing as his head kept pulsing lightly. He stood in the doorway and simply watched Naruto for a few moments, the pulsing in his head never stopping. Eventually, he spoke.

"You really shouldn't leave your window open, dobe," he said. He was displeased when Naruto didn't startle though.

"Hm," Naruto hummed pensively, looking up at Sasuke calmly.

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"You came," Naruto said simply.

Sasuke shrugged. "I thought we were friends," he said. "That means I can come over. Doesn't it?"

Naruto stared at Sasuke intensely for a moment. "Do you always come?" he asked.

"I don't know what you mean," Sasuke said.

"When I call for you," Naruto supplied. "Do you always come?"

Sasuke paused for a moment. "Do you always call for me?" he asked.

"I don't know what exactly 'calling for you' entails," Naruto said. "You'll have to tell me how often I do it so I can figure that out."

"Is that why the window was open?" Sasuke asked. Naruto nodded. "And how did you figure out that you could call on me?" he asked.

"Kankuro told me I could call him," Naruto replied, "so I thought it might work for you. Are there rules?"

"There has to be a bond for it to work," Sasuke informed. "Any vampire who's tasted your blood has a blood bond to you. That forces a connection, whether you want it or not. Other than that, any strong emotional connection is a good enough bond too. Generally, if you're in distress, any vampire who has a bond with you can feel it. If you call for one of them individually, then only that one person will feel it. Pretty much common sense."

"Mhm," Naruto hummed, nodding his head in understanding. "So... how would one get rid of a blood bond?" he asked.

Sasuke shrugged. "Stronger bonds knock out weaker bonds, so just make a stronger bond," he explained. "Emotional bonds won't knock out blood bonds so easily though. It's best to make a stronger blood bond by letting someone you already have a strong connection with taste your blood."

"I see," Naruto said.

"Why are you asking?" Sasuke asked.

"I'm curious," Naruto replied.

"Do you have some blood bonds you need to worry about?"

"I don't know, do I?" Naruto retorted.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sasuke asked uneasily.

"Since Kankuro doesn't have a blood bond with me, if I get closer to someone else who does, then will he not be able to feel me unless I call for him directly?" Naruto asked, ignoring Sasuke's question.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Yes," he answered.

"How do I know when that's happened?" Naruto asked.

"You won't," Sasuke said. "You just have to know how strong your bonds with the people around you are."

"I feel like my bond with Kankuro is pretty strong," Naruto said.

"I don't disagree," Sasuke replied. "He must feel very responsible for you, or else he wouldn't have come when you called him."

Naruto cocked his head to the side. "How do you know that it ever worked with Kankuro?" he asked.

"You said so," Sasuke answered.

"No, I said Kankuro  _told_  me it would work," Naruto replied. He narrowed his eyes with suspicion and nodded at the wall beside the doorway. "Is that your blood?" he asked.

Sasuke tensed up. "No," he said stiffly without even looking.

"Why can you feel me?" Naruto asked. Sasuke's face went blank. "Why can you feel me, Sasuke?" Naruto repeated. "Are we that close and I just don't know about it?"

"That about explains it," a familiar voice interjected.

Naruto wasted no time in being shocked or surprised. He opened his mouth to reprimand Kankuro for his absence, but he stopped abruptly when his eyes shifted to behind Sasuke and landed on the man's face. Kankuro went on easily.

"You and Sasuke have been emotionally bonded for a while. If you hadn't been, he would have sensed me approaching a while ago. He gets so engulfed in you that he forgets what's around him though." Kankuro glanced at the back of Sasuke's head. "He's easy to sneak up on this way. If he isn't careful, someone older and more experienced might be inclined to take advantage of that," he pointed out.

Casually, he sauntered past Sasuke into the room, careful to keep an eye on the other vampire. He strolled up and stopped right before Naruto. Instinctively, Sasuke snarled under his breath. "You see?" Kankuro said. "He's defensive. If I even twitch the wrong way near you, he'll kill me. You're his." Naruto looked between the two vampires questioningly. "That's my blood, Naruto," Kankuro informed, "not Sasuke's." Naruto's eyes widened dramatically. "I'm afraid you've got your suspicions all wrong."

"What?" Naruto asked.

"Step away," Sasuke hissed.

"If it makes you feel better," Kankuro said flatly. He obligingly moved a few paces away from Naruto and turned so that he could face both men at once. Sasuke remained in his spot by the door, but he was obviously poised to attack if need be.

"Sasuke is what happened to my face," Kankuro explained to Naruto. "I got too close to his property, and he mauled me for it."

"Property?" Naruto asked confusedly.

"Yes," Kankuro said. "Didn't you hear me? You're his. I wouldn't be surprised if he monitors nearly every move you make. Us vampires can be obsessive over our possessions."

"I don't  _possess_  him," Sasuke snarled. "I just protect him."

"From me?" Kankuro asked. "Was I such a threat?" Sasuke fell silent.

"Wait? So Sasuke  _was_  here that night? I'm not completely wrong about that?" Naruto asked.

"He was here," Kankuro reassured.

"And you were here too?" Naruto asked.

Kankuro nodded. "You called me. Just as I said, I will always come when you ask," he replied.

"If you were  _both_  here... then... well... someone attacked me," Naruto said, eyeing Sasuke warily.

Sasuke scowled and snorted with offense. "You can't be serious!" he exclaimed.

"Well, you haven't exactly been making any  _sense_  to me lately!" Naruto retorted.

"Sasuke saved your life," Kankuro interjected before Sasuke could get any more offended. "He was the one who sucked out the venom. Without him, you might have been changed before I got here, though not killed," he explained.

"So he didn't save my  _life,_ " Naruto pointed out, "if I wasn't gonna die anyway."

Sasuke scowled.

"Naruto, this isn't a life," Kankuro said. "Being a vampire is something less. So, yes, Sasuke saved your life."

"Whatever," Naruto conceded. "I didn't mean to offend or anything."

"Yes, you did," Sasuke grumbled irritably.

"Aright, fine!" Naruto exclaimed. "I did! I meant to offend you because  _you_  offended  _me_!"

"What are you talking about?!" Sasuke asked loudly.

"Kissing me last night and then fucking  _leaving_  like that?! What do you think I'm talking about?!" Naruto shouted back, jumping to his feet.

Sasuke felt a huge shift in Kankuro's aura, so he snapped his head to the brunet and hissed. "Keep your trap  _shut_!" he demanded. "It's got nothing to do with you!"

Naruto looked between them confusedly. "What?"

"Nothing!" Sasuke snapped.

"No! What?!" Naruto demanded.

Kankuro opened his mouth to speak, but Sasuke cut him off. "I said,  _don't_!" he snarled.

Kankuro growled at him. "He has a right to the truth," he said.

Sasuke glared daggers at Kankuro in response, silently threatening him with a million painful deaths if he didn't keep his mouth glued shut.

"Why is it that every-fucking-thing that concerns me is always kept a fucking secret from me?!" Naruto exclaimed angrily. "You are the shadiest bunch of assholes I've ever known!"

After a few moments of Sasuke letting Naruto cool down as he continued his attempt at glaring Kankuro into submission, he finally spoke. "Sai attacked you," he said quietly. Naruto looked up at him and slowly raised his brows. "He likes to play games though," Sasuke added, a bit too calmly for Naruto's liking. After all, Sasuke was talking about the guy who had not only attacked Naruto but violated him too. Not to mention all the shit that Sai had done to Sasuke himself, especially that little stunt of kissing Naruto when he was still dating Sasuke. Sasuke's composure didn't wane though, despite who he was referring to. "He would've wanted to keep you as a toy, so he wouldn't have killed you," Sasuke went on. "Maybe he would've even sucked out the venom himself after he was done."

Naruto sat back down on his bed heavily. "This is too much," he said. After a moment of collecting his thoughts, he asked, "So Sai can hear me too? We have a blood bond?" Sasuke nodded. "What if he hears me struggling and thinks it's a good time to come and try to eat me?" Naruto asked worriedly.

"That won't happen," Kankuro assured.

"But how do you know?" Naruto persisted.

"I just do. He won't come unless you call to him directly," Kankuro informed. "That means that you have to say his name with the intent to beckon him. In fact, you have to do that with everyone you have a bond with now. It might even be that way for the rest of your life."

"Why?" Naruto asked. "I thought that you could just hear me when I'm in distress."

"Not anymore. Even just a little while ago when you asked for help, I could only barely feel it. That was only because I was looking out for it though, in case you needed me. I'm sure that little bit of connection that was left is lost by now though. No one bonded to you will hear you anymore, not unless you call to us specifically," Kankuro explained.

"Why did it change?" Naruto asked.

"How many times do I have to say it? Because you're Sasuke's," Kankuro replied. Sasuke scoffed at the words, but Kankuro ignored him. "Your bond with him is overwhelming, Naruto. None of us can compare, it seems."

"But even Sasuke said that you wouldn't know when a bond has been overshadowed," Naruto argued. "He also said that blood bonds were stronger than emotional ones, so even if you couldn't feel me very well when I asked for help, maybe it's different for Sai. He's tasted my blood. Even if you can't feel me, how can you be sure that he won't?"

"Anyone with half a brain can see that your bonds have been overshadowed," Kankuro replied, "whether it be by blood or otherwise. The only person who will be picking up on your stress so easily is Sasuke. Even if we strain to tune into you, it won't work. If last night didn't seal that, then this conversation right now just did."

"Really?" Naruto asked, completely unconvinced. "You think I  _want_  to be close to him after this?"

"Doesn't matter," Kankuro replied. "Some part of your subconscious does. Even if it's complicated, Naruto, you two are bound together. Even an intense rivalry can overshadow a friendship. Even if you hated Sasuke to the core, his bond would still outmatch anyone else's. It's just fate, I guess. How do you think he got here before me that night you were attacked, even though you called for  _me_  directly? He felt your panic and sprang into action before you could even utter my name. He was so protective of you even then that not even  _I_  could come inside your room without being attacked."

Naruto stared at Sasuke in search of some emotional response, anything to tell him what the fuck to do with all of this information. Sasuke was just staring at the floor though. Kankuro sighed as he read the mood in the room.

"I think I should go. You two have a lot to talk about," he decided. "—like why I can smell that nightwalker on you," he added slyly.

Sasuke stiffened like a board. "I told you not to speak of it!" he snapped as he violently slammed Kankuro against the bathroom door.

Kankuro didn't even flinch. He'd intentionally said exactly what Sasuke had warned him not to say, so he was expecting that kind of reaction. "You should've washed him off if you didn't want it out in the open," he began calmly, "instead of coming here with his smell all over your body. That was stupid of you." He easily slipped out of Sasuke's grip. Sasuke didn't attempt to attack again though. He simply stood there looking defeated, palms flat against the door, head bowed, and shoulders slumped. Quietly, Kankuro added, "—and you could stand to cover up that love bite too. It looks a bit promiscuous. Makes you seem unreliable... but then again, I guess you kind of are." He snorted lightly, amused by his quip. "Always have been," he hissed in Sasuke's ear, and then he was gone.

**~ ( >^.^)> <(^.^<) ~**

Naruto stared blankly at Sasuke's back. Who was "that nightwalker"? Who did Kankuro smell on Sasuke? How should Naruto feel about this? Why was he so slow to react? Why did he feel like he was watching this from third person? What should he say? What should he do? Should he be angry? He felt that maybe he should. Even if Sasuke didn't really do anything incriminating with "that nightwalker", he'd still left Naruto to go be in that person's company. Why would he do that, especially after kissing Naruto the way he had? Didn't the kiss mean something to Sasuke too? Or was Naruto alone in that sense? Or maybe Sasuke didn't think that it meant anything to Naruto, but wasn't it obvious that it did? Wasn't what Naruto felt for Sasuke the most obvious thing in the world?

No, Sasuke couldn't feign ignorance about that. He couldn't pretend that he wasn't aware, because Naruto knew that he could feel exactly what Naruto felt. Sasuke knew. He had to know. He just had to. Yet, he'd left Naruto to be with someone else. Even if it was an innocent encounter, he'd left. Just like everyone else always left, Sasuke had left. That stance didn't look like the stance of an innocent man either. Just the way that Sasuke was standing alone made him look so guilty.

' _Why, Sasuke?_ ' Naruto questioned in his head. ' _Why do you have to look so guilty? Stop. Stop standing like that. Please. Stop looking so guilty. It hurts._ '

"Say something," Sasuke demanded. It was quiet but powerful. It felt like the blast from a canon to Naruto. Why did such a soft voice—the kind of softness that Sasuke rarely used with Naruto—feel like a crashing clap of thunder?

Sasuke wanted Naruto to say something. Say something. But what could he say? "I hate you"? No. That was a bit too rash too quickly. "Why did you leave me"? No. That was expecting too much of a man who hadn't expressed much more than a mild interest in Naruto. Shit. That was right. All Sasuke felt was just a mild interest, if that. Naruto was the one with overwhelming feelings, not Sasuke. Sasuke by no means at all belonged to Naruto. Naruto had absolutely no claim at all on the man. He had no stake in Sasuke's heart. Sasuke could do whatever he wanted with whomever he wanted, and Naruto didn't even have the right to be angry about it.

Sure, Naruto was positive that he himself would never share a kiss like that with someone and then run off to spend the rest of the night with a whole other person—because, no matter how innocent said night may have been, it just seemed indecent to Naruto. Naruto truly believed in only pursuing those that you truly had feelings for. For him, deciding to like someone was committing. He was committing to care for that person and only that person in the romantic sense. Maybe he was old-fashioned, but a kiss was nothing to scoff at. He would never be able to kiss someone and then treat it in such a fickle manner. Sasuke wasn't Naruto though. He didn't have to abide by Naruto's standards. His morals were probably a lot looser than Naruto's. Hell, Naruto hadn't even had a chance to really get into Sasuke's head yet, so he actually had no idea what he was dealing with here.

"Say something to me," Sasuke repeated a bit more loudly.

No, Naruto really couldn't even justify being angry if he were to get angry. Sasuke was free to do whatever he wanted to do. Naruto couldn't tie him down just because he liked the guy. A kiss was probably petty to Sasuke, even if was life-altering to Naruto. And, yes, that particular kiss  _had_  been life-altering to Naruto. He wasn't aware of its gravity right at the moment, but things had drastically changed for him over the night. He'd been confused after Sasuke had left him, so he jumped to a lot of weird, half-baked conclusions about the night when he was attacked and how Sasuke was involved. Kankuro had cleared that whole night up for Naruto though.

In truth, he'd never actually doubted Sasuke. He was just desperate for answers. To him, it seemed easier to accuse Sasuke of something ludicrous and gauge his reaction to get those answers. In truth, after seeing such a soft side of Sasuke lately, it was really hard for Naruto to imagine that there was any darkness in that heart at all. In the end, though, that kiss had been a huge thing to Naruto because that was when he knew that he was in deep. He was in  _so_  deep. Realizing just how deep he had fallen, he became a bit confused, a bit intimidated, and a bit scared. Looking for answers in the night he was attacked was just his need for some concrete knowledge. After all, whatever was between him and Sasuke didn't feel concrete at all, not since Sasuke decided to kiss and leave. So, here Naruto was, all shook up and hungry for something solid.

He'd never been in this deep with anyone before in his life. He'd never felt so closely tied to anyone other than his father or Jiraiya. This thing with Sasuke was a whole new dynamic for Naruto though. Even if things had started out rough, Sasuke was a whole different kind of relationship that Naruto had never known before, the kind of relationship that Naruto now knew he would cherish. Well, he would've cherished it. Hm, maybe he still could. Really, he didn't know because he had no idea how Sasuke felt. For fuck's sake, Sasuke had left to be with someone else! What did that mean? What did that say about Sasuke? What did that say about what Naruto meant to Sasuke? Just... what?

Yes, Sasuke was completely unlike anyone else. The magnitude of Naruto's connection to him was intense. It was possible that Sasuke was just as confused as Naruto too. It was possible that Sasuke hadn't known what to do with his feelings, so his first instinct was to run. Should Naruto have chased? He wasn't sure at all. Sasuke didn't seem like the type who liked to be chased. He was definitely one to cherish his space and solitude... but now Naruto was even more confused. Sasuke was sometimes one way and then sometimes another. Just as Kankuro had said, even if it was sometimes a hateful relationship, Sasuke and Naruto were bound together by some strong thread of fate. Naruto could feel that. He felt it so strongly. So, he felt like the confusion of their relationship was suddenly so tiny now, because all he could think about was how predetermined this all really was. In the end, it felt like he would have no choice but to fall in love with the bastard.

"Naruto!" Sasuke exclaimed softly, looking over his shoulder at the man. Naruto was staring right through him, completely spaced out. "Say something!" Sasuke demanded again, much more desperately than he would ever have liked to admit. He just needed a reaction though.

Love. Shit. Love. That was the worst fucking part. Naruto felt... love.  _Love_. It was still just in the beginning stages, but it would definitely be getting there soon enough. Of that, Naruto was positive. Isn't it funny how such a tiny bud of an emotion can be planted in one's heart and that bud can somehow manage to blossom fully, even after being trampled all over as it's sprouting? If Naruto chose to distance himself from Sasuke after this, he knew that he would still feel those emotions growing inside of him anyway. He could feel himself loving Sasuke more intensely every second that passed by, even now. Though plagued by anger, hatred, betrayal, and misery, that bud refused to give up. It was blossoming, but it was kind of painful... too painful. It was too painful to care for Sasuke. Naruto was now feeling a mixture of too many conflicting things. In the end, it was being overwhelmed that pushed his tears to spill down his cheeks.

"I don't even know why I'm crying," he said quietly, more to himself than to Sasuke, as he was still looking right through Sasuke. He was just so overwhelmed though. His brain was taking him on a roller coaster ride. His heart was constricting with so any different emotions. He couldn't even manage himself, let alone Sasuke as well.

"I don't know what to say," Sasuke admitted quietly, more to himself than to Naruto, for Sasuke could feel Naruto's absence. He could tell that those eyes weren't on him. Naruto was completely absent right now, completely unfazed by Sasuke's presence. Sasuke had disappeared from Naruto's world for the time being. Was he even worthy of being gazed upon by that man? Should he just stay invisible?

Just barely hearing Sasuke's voice cut through the haze that was his brain, Naruto managed to travel back to reality. "Just tell me why," he said quietly.

Sasuke turned around to completely face Naruto slowly. He glanced into those blue eyes and was forced to look away. Whatever was swirling within them was inexplicable. It was a cacophony of multiple things, things that Sasuke didn't really want to see swirling in Naruto's gaze. He didn't feel fit to stare back, to accept the beauty of those eyes, of that man. Naruto could see that on Sasuke's face though. He didn't need to be a vampire to feel the shame radiating from Sasuke. That only served to hurt and confuse him more. Why did Sasuke have to keep looking so fucking guilty?

Sasuke sighed heavily. How could he word his response without completely losing whatever he'd managed to ignite between Naruto and himself already? Truthfully, being close to Naruto was dangerous. He'd almost murdered the guy on the spot last night  _three times_. Once out of dismay for someone else having kissed him; once out of anger for someone else having touched and threatened him; and once out of his own sexual desire. Most of the time that Naruto's life was in danger was because of a ripple effect from what  _someone else_  made Sasuke feel too. Naruto just happened to be in the line of fire. That was life with a vampire. You didn't have to do anything wrong yourself to be in danger. Just crossing one at a bad time was enough.

Despite the constant danger though, Sasuke subconsciously kept edging closer to Naruto inch by inch. Even though he'd always known this type of relationship wouldn't work out, he kept doing things and saying things that pushed the two toward that kiss. He'd wanted it—not even just the kiss, but what could have bloomed from it. He had wanted the prospect of a relationship with Naruto, even if he couldn't admit it consciously. No, even if he was too  _afraid_  to admit it consciously. Subconsciously, he'd pushed toward it, and Naruto had followed along too. Now, he'd ruined that. And what was the reason? Why had Sasuke gone to Sai? He knew the answer in his heart, but why couldn't he just tell Naruto the whole truth? Why was that so difficult?

"I was suffering," Sasuke said simply.

"Suffering," Naruto repeated vacantly.

"I was uncertain," Sasuke added.

"Uncertain," Naruto repeated absently.

"I was seeking consolation, and I don't know anyone that I can really rely on," Sasuke finished quietly. "He was the only option, the only choice for me."

Naruto snapped out of his stupor. It was probably the confirmation that Sasuke had been with another  _man_  that did it for Naruto. It wasn't like Sasuke had made any solid indication that he was gay, and there was that time that Naruto had walked in on Sasuke with a girl. It was just that Naruto felt so strongly connected to Sasuke on so many different levels that he couldn't help but be arrogant enough to think that Sasuke really wanted him, and not just for his body either. If that was the case, then Naruto naturally felt intimidated by other men, especially men that earned the company of Sasuke late at night, especially men that Sasuke felt were the only people he could turn to at a vulnerable time. It wouldn't have been any better if it was a woman, but hearing that it was a man just really ticked Naruto off. What ticked him off even more, though, was that Sasuke had gone to this man for fucking consolation.

"What?" he asked with the most emotion he'd shown since Kankuro left. "You went to a  _nightwalker_  for  _comfort_?" he asked.

"Yes, but—"

"I'm confused," Naruto interrupted. "Of all people to go to, you chose someone with that kinda lifestyle, someone who probably tried to convince you that the answer was to go out and murder innocent human beings. How could someone from that part of your past comfort you?" Naruto asked hotly. "Unless it's not quite your past yet," he added accusingly.

"No!" Sasuke exclaimed quickly. "It is! I'm not hunting with them. I haven't been," he assured. "I won't ever again. It  _is_  my past. I just... I didn't know anyone else to turn to in that state."

Naruto snorted derisively. "Gimme a break," he said, rolling his eyes. "Were you  _so_  pained?  _You_  were the one who left  _me_  standing in the street after that kiss all alone. Yet, you want me to buy into your sob story about being the poor victim of despair?"

"It wasn't a one-sided kiss, Naruto!" Sasuke argued angrily, balling his fists at his side. "I... I was emotionally invested too! I wanted it. That's why I initiated it... but... I... I couldn't..." He swallowed hard. "I couldn't contain myself. I almost..." He trailed off and averted his eyes.

"Almost what?" Naruto asked impatiently.

"—killed you," Sasuke supplied in a whisper. The shame was back tenfold.

"That's why you ran away?" Naruto asked.

"Yes," Sasuke answered quietly, looking resolutely down at the ground.

"And that's what you sought comfort for?" Naruto asked.

"Yes," Sasuke confirmed, sounding something near regretful of his actions.

Naruto tsked loudly. "Bullshit," he said flatly. Nope. He wasn't buying such a shitty excuse.

Sasuke snapped his head up. "What?"

Naruto stood from his bed. "I said, bullshit," he repeated daringly, narrowing his eyes in a challenge. "You've battled thirst before Sasuke. You've been a vampire your entire life. One little kiss from me and you're suddenly driven mad with the need for consolation? I'm not buying it. You wouldn't give up your pride and seek comfort so easily, especially not from one of them. Do you have any idea how stupid this sounds? You, Sasuke Uchiha, got so upset over how tempting a kiss was that you sought out a nightwalker from your past and asked him to comfort you." Naruto raised a brow as if to ask 'get it yet'.

"You're not understanding me, Naruto," Sasuke said exasperatedly.

"You're right, I'm not," Naruto agreed. "You're story is bullshit. I don't get that at all."

That was it. "Naruto!" Sasuke shouted suddenly, appearing a mere inch in front of the blond in a flash. "It was  _traumatizing_!" he exclaimed, practically foaming at the mouth. "I thought I was going to  _kill_  you! You, Naruto, the  _one_  person I could never stand to fucking hurt!" He paused and panted heavily as he put some much needed space between them again. "I wasn't having a fucking pity party," he went on. "I was fucking terrified of myself, you idiot. I was terrified of the people I would murder. I was terrified of the mem—"

He broke off abruptly, and his eyes took on a wild quality that really freaked Naruto out. He flashed to the other side of the room and leaned heavily against the wall in the corner with his back to Naruto, holding his aching head in one hand and fighting the urge to scream.

"Terrified of the what, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, trying not to sound so judgmental anymore. Sasuke was really opening up here, and it didn't look easy.

"I needed to release some tension!" Sasuke said loudly.

"Okay," Naruto responded softly. "I can believe that."

"I couldn't do it with anyone else!" Sasuke added even louder.

"Alright," Naruto replied, moving forward  _slowly_ —so as not to startle Sasuke, for it seemed like he was in a very rare, very fragile state right now. "I can understand that. So... a nightwalker was the only person you could trust to handle you. Okay."

"I needed it!" Sasuke insisted, sounding more like he was trying to convince himself rather than Naruto.

"I believe you," Naruto assured softly. "I just don't understand why last night was so different from any other night. Don't you always feel thirsty?"

"Naruto," Sasuke growled. "You're different! Don't you get it?! You're different!"

Naruto stopped just behind Sasuke. "Okay," he whispered, trying to sound as soothing as possible.

"I... I would've gone mad!" Sasuke shouted suddenly, startling Naruto again. "I would've... again... I would've..." He trailed off momentarily. "I would have, Naruto! I would have!"

"Sasuke,  _okay_ ," Naruto said worriedly. "You're freaking me out though, so just calm down. I'm only trying to understand what happened." Naruto leaned a little closer to Sasuke. "—to understand you," he added softly.

"You can't!" Sasuke screamed, startling Naruto so badly that he stumbled backward.

"Sasuke," Naruto said worriedly, grabbing the man's shoulder. Sasuke shrugged it off and disappeared to the other side of the room though, despite how badly he wanted to be close to Naruto at the moment.

"Don't touch me!" he shouted at Naruto, his eyes absolutely wild. "Why don't you get it yet?!"

Naruto began to panic. He'd never seen  _this_  side to Sasuke yet. "Sasuke," he began again, his voice beginning to tremble, "please just calm down and talk to me more easily."

Sasuke was panting heavily by this point.

**~xXxXxXx~**

" _Sasuke, you have to calm down. Please," Ren says quietly, reaching out and grabbing her brother's hand. "We have to go help."_

" _Ren, I can't. We have to go home," Sasuke grinds out, squeezing her hand and attempting to pull her along._

" _Please, Sasuke. Please," Ren says, tugging back. "Please."_

**~xXxXxXx~**

Sasuke started shaking his head, trying to shake out the invading thoughts. He hadn't had these thoughts in a long, long time.

"Sasuke," Naruto said again softly, almost as if it were the start of a lullaby.

**~xXxXxXx~**

" _Sasuke," Ren says in that soft, innocent voice of hers. "Please," she insists, tugging on his hand again.  
"You can do it. Calm down. You can. I know you can. We have to help. We have to."_

" _Ren! I can't!" Sasuke shouts, digging the palm of his free hand into one of his eyes in his frustration._

" _Please," Ren begs, her big eyes filling with tears. "Sasuke, please!"_

**~xXxXxXx~**

Sasuke shook his head more violently. "You sound just like her, just like how she used to..." He trailed off, shaking his head even  _more_  vigorously.

"Who?" Naruto asked.

"No. Stop," Sasuke said, crouching down and holding his head once more.

Naruto was getting really worried. "Ren?" he asked softly, wanting to approach the name gently because he knew what kind of effect it could have on Sasuke.

"Stop!" Sasuke yelled.

Naruto startled again, but tears began welling up in his eyes this time. "I'm getting really scared, Sasuke," he admitted.

**~xXxXxXx~**

" _Sasuke," Ren whispers, fear in her eyes. "I'm scared."_

**~xXxXxXx~**

"STOP!" Sasuke repeated angrily, though he wasn't sure exactly who he was yelling at anymore. It must have just been everyone, he figured. The whole world. Just  _stop_.

His head was still bent down and his body was still hunched over, but even in that vulnerable position he gave off a dangerous aura. Naruto was getting a sickening feeling in his stomach. He figured that it must have been his gut instinct telling him to avoid this dangerous creature. Sasuke's intent to kill must have been rising, and it was terrifying to Naruto. It was far scarier than any image of red eyes and sharp fangs. Sasuke looked like a rabid animal at this point, like there would be no warning as to when he would snap. This had turned into a very serious situation, Naruto could tell. What could he do though?

"I'm really scared, Sasuke," Naruto repeated, hoping to appeal to Sasuke's humanity. After all, Sasuke wouldn't hurt Naruto if he could help it.

**~xXxXxXx~**

_"I'm scared, Sasuke," Ren whispers, her voice trembling furiously. "I'm so scared."_

**~xXxXxXx~**

"S-S-Stop," Sasuke pleaded in a broken voice so pained that not even a terrified Naruto could stand to ignore it. The need to embrace and to comfort was too great, so Naruto began to cross the small room. Even if it got him killed, he couldn't stand that kind of pain in Sasuke's voice. He just couldn't.

"S-Stop!" Sasuke repeated in that same broken tone. Naruto continued his advance anyway.

"Please!" Sasuke exclaimed desperately.

"Stop, Naruto!" he commanded, raising his head and locking eyes with Naruto. Fear was what stopped Naruto in his tracks.

Naruto wanted to push through, to continue on to Sasuke, to show Sasuke that he would do whatever it took to be there for him. When those wild eyes met his, though, he was paralyzed. Sasuke's behavior was scary, but those eyes were truly terrifying. They didn't seem to echo Sasuke at all. Naruto had to wonder where the part of Sasuke that was telling him to stay back was, because all that Naruto could see in those eyes was an animal ready to pounce. Even as it called out to him and begged for him to stay away, Naruto couldn't see even a sliver of Sasuke's humanity. And that was terrifying. Sasuke appeared so feral before him. Whatever humanity that actually was left within him must have been tiny, almost nonexistent. At any moment, Sasuke could close the distance left between them in a flash and have Naruto any way that he wanted him.

"I-I-I don't know what to  _do_ , Sasuke," Naruto whispered. Sasuke stood abruptly and composed himself quickly, glaring down at a fearful Naruto. "T-Tell me what to do, Sasuke," Naruto pleaded.

Sasuke tensed as if he was going to advance on Naruto. Instead, he turned his back on the blond. When he glanced over his shoulder at Naruto, his eyes were dead. Just as they'd always used to be. "Leave me alone," he said flatly.

"What?" Naruto asked, dumbfounded. "After everything, you want me to leave you alone?"

Sasuke turned forward again and stared out of the doorway into the rest of Naruto's apartment. "If you value your life," he supplied.

"Not more than I value—" Before Naruto could even complete that thought, though, Sasuke was gone. "—you," Naruto finished quietly to himself, gazing solemnly at the spot where Sasuke had just been. He sighed heavily. What the fuck just happened?

_To be continued..._


	14. Eluded

"So what should I do?"

"What he said."

"What? That's stupid. After everything that's happened, I can't just leave him alone. He... He kissed me. Yeah, he left me really confused, but after he explained everything I understood—"

"You don't understand."

"I do. I understand. That's why I can forgive him, and that's why I can choose to move on with him. I can choose to try and save what we have, whatever that is. I can't do that on my own though. He can't just make me feel these things and then go away."

"Yes, he can. Respect that. Value your life, Naruto. Don't give it up for Sasuke because he  _will_  take it."

Yeah? Well, what the fuck did Kankuro know anyway?

**~ ( >^.^)> <(^.^<) ~**

"So what should I do?"

"Listen to him."

"What the fuck? Why would I do that?"

"Because he said he wanted to kill you, and he's trying  _not_  to do that. It's generally easier if you don't go begging for it."

"But—"

"Sorry, Naru! I gotta go! I'm supposed to be meeting Kisame right now!"

Goddamn Temari. Always fucking running off with that scattered brain of hers. Just as well. She was just speaking nonsense anyway.

**~ ( >^.^)> <(^.^<) ~**

"So..." Naruto cleared his throat awkwardly. "—what should I do?"

"Simple. Leave him alone."

Naruto sighed heavily. "I shoulda known."

"You're the only one who doesn't really know Sasuke, Naruto. Just listen to those who actually know what they're talking about."

Naruto knew that talking to Gaara would be fruitless anyway. What a predictable answer. Useless.

**~ ( >^.^)> <(^.^<) ~**

"Please, tell me something other than 'leave him alone'," Naruto said pleadingly.

Kiba sighed. "I wish I could, Naruto, but I can't," he said regretfully. "The way that you've explained him to me is really... disturbing. You really don't know how dangerous it is to be around him right now."

"I don't  _care_!" Naruto exclaimed exasperatedly. "Would you just leave Gaara alone so easily?"

Kiba blushed. "Of course not," he admitted. "This is really severe though. I know you just wanna help him. You can't help if you're dead though."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Why is everyone so convinced that he'd actually kill me. I'm not convinced at all. I don't even think  _he_  was convinced when he said it," he complained. "Somehow, even when I looked into his eyes and they weren't his at all, even when there was no humanity left in them, all I could see was a wounded animal," he went on softly. "I was afraid, but I think that was just my basic instinct to avoid danger. Most of me still wanted to get closer. It was like some part of Sasuke really deep inside was just asking for me to get closer, like it was begging to be..." Naruto paused, searching for the right word. "—healed?" he finished uncertainly.

Kiba stared off for a moment. "Saved," he corrected softly.

Naruto smiled sadly and nodded. "Yeah. Exactly."

Kiba heaved a heavy sigh and leaned back in his chair. "Yeah, I get that feeling about it too," he admitted.

"Really?" Naruto asked, perking up.

Kiba nodded. "After Ren's death," he started seriously, "Sasuke would get really bad flashbacks. He was really dangerous at those times, so he would just lock himself away in his room. Just like you, even though we were always warned not to bother him when he was having a fit, I couldn't see that dangerous side of him. I could only see the pain. I could only see that he needed saving. He was being eaten alive from the inside out." Kiba sighed. "How could  _I_  help him though? That's what I always thought. In the end, I took the burden of the whole family. I think that it might have helped Sasuke get better eventually too, at least a little bit. Surely, if father had taken his anger out on Sasuke, then Sasuke would never have gotten any better. Sure, he turned into an empty guy and became a nightwalker, but at least the episodes stopped. At least he didn't have to keep reliving those awful memories."

"Hm," Naruto hummed softly. "You think that's what happened?" he asked.

"I'm sure of it," Kiba replied. "You remind him of Ren. It was bound to happen sometime. I could tell from that very first day that you met. You stirred something up inside of him, and it was fate since then."

Naruto sighed sadly. "I don't wanna cause him any pain," he said quietly, down-casting his eyes.

"I know you don't," Kiba said sympathetically. "For you two to get closer, you had to open up these wounds though. Sasuke hadn't wanted to talk about any of it before, but now you're forcing him to face demons that he's been shutting away. It'll be good for him in the end. When he's stable again, you'll be able to show him just how much you care, Naruto." Naruto peered up at Kiba, who was smiling encouragingly. "Trust me. All you need to do is just survive until Sasuke's better again. That way, you can really show him that you love him."

"I-I never said—" Naruto began to exclaim in embarrassment.

"Oh whatever," Kiba interjected, rolling his eyes and grinning knowingly. "You will."

Naruto blushed heavily, but he didn't argue. He knew it in his core. He would love Sasuke. There was no doubt about that.

"Well, what can I do til then?" Naruto asked.

"Give him the space he asked you for," Kiba replied, "just like everyone else is saying."

"I really don't wanna," Naruto complained, sighing.

"I really didn't wanna give Gaara space either," Kiba said. "You know, Naruto, you have to understand how hard it is for a vampire to be involved with a human though. At any time, you could accidentally be killed. Of course  _you_  don't see it that way. I know what you're thinking. Because of the way he looks at you, the way he talks to you, from how he smiles that special smile made just for you, with all the things he does that make you blush, how he makes you feel like no one else ever has," Naruto blushed lightly as he realized that Kiba was spot on. "—you have to wonder how he could ever hurt you. No, not this wonderful man who you've grown to love so much.

"Compared to them, we're so fragile and weak though. They could break bones just by touching us too roughly. Every second of every day, they're suppressing their urges. It's a constant battle against their instinct to kill. That's what they have to deal with. You don't wanna see a monster, not when such a beautiful human being is standing in front of you. The monster is there though. It's just hiding, trying to break their resolve. It's a dangerous game, and we can't understand it because we're only human. Trust me. Sasuke  _can_  hurt you. In his current state, he might, and that scares him too, Naruto."

"I know," Naruto said quietly. "I know where he's coming from, but doesn't he know where I'm coming from? Doesn't he understand how hard it is for me to just watch him disappear all the time? It's not fair to make me feel so attached and then just constantly be running away. Can't he just face his demons and face me?"

"I agree!" Kiba said passionately, sitting up at attention again.

"You do?" Naruto asked warily.

"Of course!" Kiba confirmed, nodding his head eagerly. "I agree wholeheartedly! Isn't it time for Sasuke to finally face his demons already? Isn't it time for his suffering to end, for things to change? Yeah, it is! It's been that way for years!" Kiba toned himself down and smiled fondly at Naruto. "I guess we just had to wait for you to come into our lives before he could do that. The thing is that you don't quite understand his demons yet. That's the issue. You don't quite get what it is that's plaguing him or why it's so hard for him to face you. There's a lot buried underneath that you haven't seen."

"So why won't he show me?" Naruto asked.

"He's afraid, Naruto," Kiba replied. "His demons are scary."

"Even if I am just a human, I could help," Naruto argued. "If he could just trust me, then I could make it easier on him."

"That's what we've all thought for years," Kiba said, sitting back in his seat again and crossing his arms over his chest. "If he could just trust us again, we could make it easier. He never would though. He  _won't._  I do think that maybe you could help. In fact, I think you're actually the only person who can. If he could just trust you and open up, then you could definitely make it easier for him. You could stop his suffering, but he's not ready to heal yet. That's all it is."

"So you think I'm the one who can help him?" Naruto asked.

Kiba smiled. "I do," he agreed. "You don't know what's happened between us so many years ago yet though, so you can't understand how to handle Sasuke like this. You're not equipped to help yet."

"So why can't someone just  _tell_  me what happened?" Naruto asked. "That way I can help him!"

Kiba looked at Naruto warily. "We've been here before, Naruto," he said in a very nearly scolding manner.

"Right," Naruto said, rolling his eyes and sighing. He plopped back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. "Ask an Uchiha."

"All you can do is leave him be until he's ready to approach you," Kiba said. "Don't be alone with him though, even if he does approach you. He's still dangerous to you. If he's having flashbacks again, he's really unstable. It's best for you to just be strong and wait." Naruto nodded his understanding. "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink," Kiba added.

"He'll come back though, won't he?" Naruto asked softly, looking truly worried. "He'll come back to my side."

Kiba smiled. "Of course he will," he assured confidently. "You're what he needs. He knows that. He just has to gather up his courage. I know it's not easy to watch him suffer, but you can't really do anything else right now." A silence fell between them, in which Naruto stared dejectedly at the table between them and Kiba quietly watched on with empathy. "If you need me, you know I'm here," Kiba said eventually.

Naruto looked up and smiled appreciatively, even though the light never quite reached his eyes. Sasuke was probably the only one who would've been able to tell anyway though. After all, he was the only one who really understood Naruto at all. Wasn't that ironic?

"Yeah, thanks," Naruto said. He checked the time on his phone and sighed heavily. "I'll be late for class if I don't get moving."

Kiba grinned widely. "Naruto is worried about class? How strange!" he teased.

Naruto had to smile again, this time more sincerely. He loved having the old Kiba back. Now all he needed was his old self back too.

"Call me after classes," Kiba said as Naruto gathered up his things.

"Ehhh, I kinda have plans," Naruto replied as he swung his backpack over his shoulder and started retreating from the table backwards.

"Like what?" Kiba asked, perking up in his seat and eyeing Naruto curiously.

Naruto grinned. "It's a secret," he said, winking mischievously at Kiba.

"Naruuu," Kiba whined, wanting to get into some mischief himself. After all, he knew that it was the best way to cheer Naruto up. Naruto simply chuckled and turned forward to jog away.

"Try to stay awake during class!" Kiba called after his friend. "Text me if you get bored!" Naruto waved a dismissive hand and grinned back at Kiba just before he turned a corner. "And don't skip!" he heard Kiba calling out as an afterthought.

Once around the corner, Naruto slowed back down to a walk. He wasn't actually going to class at all. How perceptive of Kiba. Like he'd told Kiba though, he had plans. As Naruto headed off campus, his thoughts fell, as always, back to Sasuke. It'd already been two days since their argument, and Naruto hadn't seen Sasuke even once. Sasuke had even stopped going to class completely. Of course, he wouldn't take any of Naruto's calls either. Talking with Kiba had actually been a huge help to Naruto. He could understand where Sasuke was coming from much better now. He still had one last person he wanted to consult with though. This person's opinion was probably the most important too.

One good thing about his blood bond with Sasuke was that it cut Naruto off from everyone else, so they couldn't sense his intentions anymore. If they'd been able to sense them so easily, then they would've definitely headed him off before he even got halfway there when he boldly decided to show up at Sasuke's apartment building the day before. Of course, it was pretty scary to think that none of them would know if he was in danger unless he called for them individually, but Sasuke would know. That was all that mattered because Naruto was confident that Sasuke would always be there for him anyway, even if he was on this whole "leave me alone" stint. The downside to their blood bond, though, was that Sasuke could sense Naruto so intensely all the time. More than likely, he had sensed Naruto's intention before the blond had even departed. He could probably sense Naruto approaching from a mile away too, so it was no shock that he refused to answer when Naruto showed up.

That had really been the last straw for Naruto. After that, he realized that Sasuke was serious about needing space. That was why he went to Kiba for his opinion. By that point, he was desperate for some support. He wanted someone to tell him to keep trying and to not give up. Of course, Kiba didn't say any of that. What he did say was still helpful though. Naruto didn't expect this last person that he was going to see to say all the supporting things that he was longing to hear either, but it was still important to talk to this person anyway. It was his last chance to formulate a real plan for getting close to Sasuke again. It just wasn't going to work for him if he had to simply sit back and wait for the bastard to decide that they could be friends again. Sasuke didn't have to suffer in silence. If he'd let Naruto, Naruto could help him. Naruto just needed to know how, and if Sasuke wouldn't tell him how, then he'd find someone else who would.

Naruto glanced around at his surroundings. Where was he now? Did he get so lost in thought that he'd just wandered off course? He saw a vaguely familiar building off to his right that told him roughly what area he was in. It wasn't the path that he was used to taking, but he could still find his way to his destination from here. So he'd just wandered off a little bit. It was no big deal. It'd just give him more time to walk and, in return, more time to think.

This was one of the parts of town that he'd never walked around though. Now that he thought about it, he'd wanted to explore down here when he'd first move in, but Kiba had designated it as one of those places that he should avoid. Naruto chuckled lightly to himself. That was way back when he didn't know about vampires. He was so innocent then. Hm. Wait... Oh, shit. He wasn't supposed to be here, was he? He glanced around at his surroundings again, a bit more nervously this time. It didn't look so dangerous, but that didn't mean anything. He began walking faster, eager to hurry up and get back on an approved path.

He heard some rustling down an alleyway. He didn't stop to be curious or anything though. Instead, he began walking even faster. He couldn't help it if his heart started pounding pretty hard too. Shit. He really wasn't supposed to be here. It probably wasn't ideal to be freaking out with a racing heart while walking through an area that was more than likely infested with vampires, but he just couldn't calm down. He was tempted to break out into a run. He felt so uneasy, like there were stares coming at him from all angles.

Suddenly, he heard a low hiss come from somewhere behind him. Naturally, he broke out into a run immediately. Before he could even get in a few fumbling steps though, someone showed up right in his line of vision. His heart leapt out of his chest and he intended to swerve out of the way, but the person had grabbed onto his shirt and pulled him back. Now he stood nose to nose with a strange man.

"I like it when they run," the man said in a deep voice, leering creepily at Naruto, who was struggling weakly to put some distance between their faces. The man chuckled deeply. "Your heart is bursting at the seams. How tempting."

"D-Don't hurt me," Naruto managed to stammer out. "You'll regret it."

The man barked with laughter. "Are you afraid I'm gonna rob you?" he asked.

Surprisingly, he released Naruto. Naruto scampered back a few steps and glanced around him, only to see that his previous suspicion wasn't all that off. There were, indeed, eyes watching him from all angles. He definitely wasn't getting away, as if he honestly thought that he could outrun even one vamp to begin with.

"Afraid I'll stab you with a knife?" the man asked, commanding Naruto's attention again. He began circling Naruto slowly.

"Or maybe I'll shoot you with my gun," he added, cackling wildly. Naruto swallowed hard.

"Mmmm," the man hummed promptly. "You are tempting, aren't you?" Naruto cursed himself internally, he was always swallowing like that in these situations.

"T-Trust me," he began feebly. "If you hurt me, people will know. You'll pay for it."

The man chuckled heartily, coming to a stop in front of Naruto once he'd circled him entirely. "You don't even realize what kind of a place you've stumbled into," the man said. "Trust  _me_ ," he insisted. "No one is gonna find you down here, boy. Not even the police bother with us. Do you know why?" he asked. He laughed at his own joke. "Of course not," he said. "You humans know nothing."

"I do," Naruto blurted out, hoping to at least buy himself some more time to think of what the fuck he could possibly do to survive.

The man raised a curious brow. "You do?" he asked. "You know where you are?"

"W-Well, not exactly," Naruto admitted, "but I know what you are, and I have friends just like you."

The man snorted derisively. "Pets," he snarled. "That's what you have. People like me don't associate with humans." His eyes narrowed. "We kill them," he added, licking his lips.

"Well, my friends have power!" Naruto retorted. "If I'm missing, they'll know what to do. They'll smell me on you, and they'll kill you."

"Your friends aren't gonna come for you," the man nearly sang, very amused by the whole scenario. "I'll bet they never even told you about this place."

Naruto looked around again. "What place?" he asked.

"See?" the man said, pleased. "Humans know nothing." He poised himself to attack. "You're good for nothing but a meal."

"Now, we mustn't be rude."

Naruto startled when he heard that voice from behind him, and his heart dropped even further. Slowly, he glanced over his shoulder to see a man slightly covered in shadows simply staring at him. Shit. Now he was really screwed.

"Naruto is actually my friend, so let's treat him kindly."

Now that he could see the man's face more clearly, Naruto was tempted to puke.

"Never thought I'd see you protecting a human, Sai," the man attempting to make Naruto his dinner chimed.

Sai smirked. "I'm a vampire. I protect my meals."

The man glared at Sai, as if to challenge him. " _Your_  meal, huh?" he asked.

In less than a second, Sai was beside the man. Naruto's eyes widened as the man fell over limply.

"Yes,  _my_  meal," Sai said casually, dropping the piece of the man's throat that he'd ripped out. He glanced around him. "Does anyone else wish to challenge me on that?" he asked. Naruto watched incredulously as all the other vampires disappeared down dark alleys and into buildings. Sai smiled happily. "Good," he said as he began licking the blood from his hand. Now Naruto was  _really_  tempted to puke, especially when Sai's eyes landed on him again.

"What do you want from me?" Naruto managed to ask.

"Hm... I haven't decided yet," Sai said with a wicked smile. "You should really be more careful," he said. "Why would you wander around near a vampire market? This is vampire territory, Naruto. Sasuke would be displeased." Sai quirked an eye brow. "Speaking of the devil."

Out of nowhere, a man appeared, placing himself defensively in front of Naruto. Even from the back, Naruto would recognize that man anywhere. Naruto couldn't help it if his heart began to soar. Sai glanced at Naruto and then back at Sasuke.

"Took you a while," he said pleasantly. Sasuke growled. "We were only talking," he insisted innocently.

"I know exactly what you're doing," Sasuke snarled. "Stay away from him, and stay away from me."

Sai faked a hurt expression. "But surely you don't mean that," he said. At normal speed, he walked up to Sasuke. Sasuke didn't move away, but he didn't get any less defensive either. Sai stroked Sasuke's cheek lovingly. "You'd miss me, I think," he said, trailing his thumb across Sasuke's lips.

Naruto's eyes grew steadily wider. Was... Was it possible that... that  _Sai_  was the man that Sasuke had gone to see that night? He wasn't reacting to Sai at all. He was, apparently, fine with the man just strolling up and touching his face like that... and the way that Sai was  _looking_  at Sasuke! Ugh! It was sickening! Naruto didn't want to believe it, but it sure seemed like an awfully possible possibility.

Suddenly, Sai froze up, looking as if he was listening to something that Naruto couldn't hear. "I guess we'll have to continue this later," he said to Naruto, sighing in disappointment. Sasuke growled, but Sai simply winked at him before quickly disappearing.

Naruto, thinking that now was his chance to actually talk to Sasuke, took an earnest step forward. He stopped when Sasuke turned intolerant eyes to glare at him though.

"Protect yourself, dobe," Sasuke said irritably. "Don't wander around so aimlessly."

Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but Sasuke disappeared. Moments later, Gaara was at Naruto's side, gripping his shoulder tightly and scrutinizing the surrounding area.

"What are you doing here?" he asked Naruto sharply.

Naruto was busy staring blankly at the spot where Sasuke had disappeared though. That fucking bastard was always disappearing.

**~ ( >^.^)> <(^.^<) ~**

Naruto glanced irritably over his shoulder and scowled at the blonde walking just a beat behind him. Seriously, accidentally wander into the vampire market once and you can't get a fucking second to yourself anymore. He should have felt reassured that his friends were taking it in shifts to protect him, but he didn't. He just felt annoyed. It'd only happened a day ago and already he literally hadn't been alone for a single second. It wasn't like they were imposing, but they were still always there. It was just fucking obnoxious. He'd never had a chance to get to his destination the day before, and he couldn't very well do it while being followed left and right. The conversation he intended to have was private. He scowled at the air in front of him. Now what was he gonna do? Temari was scatter-brained, but she wasn't stupid enough to be ditched.

"We can go, you know," Temari suddenly said.

Naruto looked around at her confusedly. "What?" he asked.

"Akatsake," she supplied. "If you wanna go visit Ita, we can. That's not banned or anything. You just can't go alone."

"Oh," Naruto said simply.

"All you had to do was ask," Temari said, smiling at Naruto. He smiled back tentatively. Temari furrowed her brows as she read his aura. "You're displeased," she pointed out. "Gaara told me that you were on your way to Akatsake yesterday and that you might wanna try to go again today, but you haven't mentioned it. Is it that you don't wanna be accompanied? Is that why you're not pleased?"

Naruto averted his eyes and shrugged. "I'll tune you out," Temari assured, earning the attention of Naruto's eyes once again. She smiled kindly at him. "It's not like us vampires hear everything all the time," she explained. "We're just really good eavesdroppers. If you want privacy, I'll give you privacy." Slowly, Naruto smiled more genuinely at her. "Alright then! Let's go!" Temari exclaimed excitedly. "I could use a drink anyway!"

Naruto grinned at her enthusiasm and began leading her off to his car to drive across town at top speed. Before getting in the car, Temari added over the top of the roof, "Just don't tell Kiba I'm letting you skip class."

Once they were finally parked and approaching the entrance to the building, Temari stopped Naruto in his tracks. "Are you sure you wanna go in?" she asked, suddenly very serious.

Naruto nodded. "Of course."

Temari simply gazed at him for a moment. "Don't leave my side," she said sternly, grabbing Naruto by the arm firmly, "and I mean that."

Naruto nodded his head in understanding, though he was wondering what her issue could possibly be. Akatsake wasn't  _that_  dangerous. It was Ita's bar. No one would dare do anything stupid there. Not to mention, Deidara would definitely be inside too, so Naruto would have three of them to keep an eye on him at once. He'd be perfectly fine. So what was Temari so concerned about? He scanned the area on the way through the halls to Akatsake for any evidence of something out of place, something that would make Temari worry and grip his arm like it was her lifeline. Really, he could barely walk without stumbling because she was holding him so close to her side.

The moment that Naruto opened the door into Akatsake, he was awarded with a familiar sight, a missed sight. Sasuke's head snapped to attention in an instant. He glared at the two in the doorway, asking himself why Naruto couldn't understand the concept of  _space_. Naruto couldn't hear from that distance, but he could see that Sasuke was growling. That did nothing to sway his resolve though. Without a second thought, Naruto tried rushing forward. He forgot, however, that Temari had an iron grip on him, and so he didn't actually move an inch. He glanced up at Temari, but her unwavering gaze was fixed intensely on Sasuke, whose hard gaze was fixed on Naruto. Slowly, Temari began leading an overeager Naruto closer to his goal, never letting her eyes linger from Sasuke in even the slightest bit.

Once Naruto was within hearing distance, Sasuke asked snappishly, "What are you doing here?"

Naruto, genuinely hurt by Sasuke's attitude, furrowed his brows. All the excitement fizzled away. This was not the Sasuke that he'd been missing at all. "I didn't know you were gonna be here," he grumbled defensively.

"In my  _brother's_  bar?" Sasuke retorted bitterly.

"As if you have such a good relationship that I shoulda just  _known_  you'd come to his bar. Don't act like it's common knowledge," Naruto retorted. At the end of his short fuse, he added hotly in one, never-ending breath, "If you two have a secret relationship that you cherish enough to come out of your fucking hole for long enough to hold a real conversation, which you  _apparently_  can't fucking stand to do for me, then how would I fucking know?! Because you keep everything a goddamn  _secret_  from me!"

Sasuke looked stunned for a split second before narrowing his eyes. "Whatever, dobe," he snapped back harshly.

Naruto huffed out an angry breath in an attempt to calm himself down. "Don't call me that," he ground out.

"Whatever,  _dobe_ ," Sasuke repeated slowly, concisely, crisply—a quip purposely meant to jar Naruto. There was even a slight sneer to the words, as if Naruto had suddenly become Sasuke's worst enemy.

Naruto met Sasuke's glare with a dark glare of his own. The next few moments were quiet, tense ones in which everyone else in the vicinity simply stared on uncomfortably. However, they were also thoroughly intrigued by the fact that a  _human_  was challenging  _Sasuke_  and that Sasuke was allowing it to happen so easily. In a manner that managed to be both submissive, which was completely unbecoming of his nature, and insubordinate at once, Sasuke finally tsked and tossed his head back to break the staring contest. Naruto zoned his vision in on Sasuke's lips as the man silently threatened everyone within glaring distance. All of the spectators standing nearby looked away quickly and milled about again, not wanting to get caught in Sasuke's sights when he was in such a nasty mood. One quick sweep around the room with his dark eyes had everyone scurrying away to leave them in some semblance of privacy.

Naruto ignored the unintelligible insult that Sasuke muttered once his gaze finally fell back on him again. Instead, he noted the state of Sasuke's lips. They were cracked and dry. That wouldn't have been so odd if it wasn't  _Sasuke_  that Naruto was looking at. Sasuke was the perfect depiction of beauty, and he was always well-dressed and groomed. For him to have dry skin or lips or anything unkempt at all was unheard of. Perhaps not many other people paid enough attention to even notice that about the man, but Naruto hadn't really been able to help it. He knew what was normal of Sasuke, and the state of those lips was not normal.

He felt like he knew every contour of Sasuke's lips especially, as he'd gone over their kiss about a billion times since it happened. He just couldn't forget those lips, not even if he tried. When he'd kissed them, they were just as soft as he'd always thought they would be. So why were they so dry and cracked now? It was a tiny little thing, but it was enough to be unnerving to Naruto. For even one little thing to be off about Sasuke seemed severe, and so he found himself forgetting his anger and falling into a pit of worry. The feeling intensified quickly, so quickly that he didn't even have time to voice that worry before Sasuke was responding to it.

"I'm fine," Sasuke said quietly.

He couldn't help it if his expression softened and all the venom from before dissipated entirely. Those innocent, blue eyes that always looked at Sasuke with such concern and sincerity had such an effect on him. After all, it wasn't really Naruto that Sasuke was angry with anyway. Naruto lifted his eyes to meet Sasuke's again. He leaned forward just a bit—an involuntary shift in weight, a basic need to be closer to Sasuke, even if it was only a centimeter or two. He swept his gaze over Sasuke's face, studying the man's features closely. He had light bags under his eyes. His cheeks seemed just a tad bit sunken in. They were changes that made it seem like Sasuke had maybe just lost a couple of pounds. He didn't look much paler, as he was already as pale as one could get. There was a strange tint to his skin though. Sasuke had always seemed to glow in Naruto's opinion. His skin had always seemed ethereal. It didn't look as such just then though. It looked...

"Sick," Naruto said simply. Yeah, that was it. Sick. "You look sick," Naruto clarified, his brows furrowed in both concentration and worry.

It'd only been a day since he'd last seen Sasuke, and he could tell that there was a definite difference. If he really thought about it though, Sasuke had been on that track for a while now. He was getting less and less angelic every day. He hadn't looked bad, but he did stop looking so otherworldly and start looking like your average good-looking person. He was losing that quality that set a vampire's beauty apart from any other simple human being. His perfection had simply been dulling. Sasuke's fall from grace had taken the next step though. Sure, they were just cracked lips, but it was the first mar on Sasuke's skin that Naruto had ever seen.

Naruto's worry tripled, if not quadrupled. Perhaps it was just stress finally getting to Sasuke. No matter what it was, Naruto had the urge to be closer. Thoughtlessly, he reached a hand out toward Sasuke's face, wanting to simply establish contact. Yeah, contact. He just wanted to touch Sasuke. He wanted to feel his skin, to feel their connection.

Perhaps they were all just dazed or confused, because no one stopped him right away. His fingers managed to find purchase on the skin of Sasuke's cheek. As soon as contact was made, however, everyone sprung into sudden action. Itachi vaulted over the bar and pulled Sasuke's back flush against his front in a bear hug, pinning him to the spot. Temari pulled Naruto back a couple of feet and shoved him halfway behind her. Deidara appeared out of nowhere and took up a defensive stance in the middle of it all. Naruto was shocked, to say the least, into silence. Sasuke's expression was blank. He was, however, panting. Itachi whispered something hurriedly in his ear, and Sasuke's eyes grew apologetic. He looked at Naruto that way for a moment before he schooled his expression again.

"I'm fine, dobe," he assured.

Naruto looked down at his hand. His fingers were trembling. For some reason, there was suddenly a huge pit in his chest. It felt endless. It felt heavy. It hurt. Why was his hand trembling so much? He didn't glance up, but he knew that Sasuke was watching. He just felt it, like it was fact. Sasuke would be staring at Naruto's hand too, wondering why it was trembling as well. Wait. No... No... That wasn't it. Sasuke's hand. Yeah,  _Sasuke's_  hand. It was trembling too. That was it. Sasuke's hand was trembling as well. Slowly, Naruto lifted his gaze from his own hand to Sasuke's, which was, indeed, trembling just as furiously. Naruto wanted to reach out again and still that trembling. He wanted to touch that man, that hand, that skin. That skin. Sasuke's skin. Again, Naruto stared at his own hand with something akin to bewilderment. Sasuke's skin. It was so...

"Cold," Naruto whispered, still staring at his own trembling hand. Temari and Deidara looked over their shoulders at Naruto curiously. Even Itachi ripped his attention from Sasuke to ogle at Naruto. "Why are you so... cold?" Naruto asked, never looking away from his own hand.

Sasuke's brows knit as a stern expression claimed his features. "Don't worry about me," he replied.

Naruto shook his head slowly. Gradually, his breathing became more labored. Intense emotions that he didn't understand were coursing through him. They were undefinable. They were no single thing, but they were overwhelming and they hurt. They truly  _hurt_  him. He clasped his hand over his chest and grimaced hard. They hurt so badly. What was he feeling? Why was he feeling this? He felt like a spectator to that pain though, like he was standing pool side. It was easy to get drenched in the splashing water, but he hadn't yet jumped into the pool. This was just a fraction of the intense, throbbing pain. His knees began to wobble and Temari quickly turned around to stabilize him.

He was too engulfed in his own self to see Itachi whispering in Sasuke's ear yet again. His wits were not about him, but he managed to know that Sasuke was leaving the very second that Sasuke decided it. In response, he snapped his head up and reached for Sasuke before the man could get away. His eyes were wide and pleading. He didn't understand what was happening to him, and he was pretty frightened by it all. He didn't want to see Sasuke to go.

"Don't," he said pleadingly. "Not now. Don't leave me."

Sasuke looked purely tortured by the words, the tone of voice. Naruto's hand never made it back to Sasuke's skin though. It lost the strength to reach out any further about halfway. Sasuke held Naruto's gaze intensely for a moment or two. Naruto closed his eyes momentarily to grimace again. Once he reopened them, Sasuke was gone.

For a few long moments, Naruto simply stood there in Sasuke's wake. Slowly, his head began to clear. When he regained control of those troubling emotions, he came to a logical conclusion that Sasuke must have been some sort of trigger for him. He must have just made Naruto revisit fears that he'd already been battling for years—the fear of abandonment. Naruto must have just been overwhelmed. That was it. Sasuke was there within reach, but... Wait. That was right. Sasuke was  _within reach_ , but they stopped him from getting close. Suddenly very frustrated, Naruto ripped his arm from Temari's grip. Frustration escalated into seething within a fraction of a second.

"I can't get one fucking touch in?!" he boomed angrily at the three vampires before him, all of which were shocked into silence. They stayed silent for a short while, letting Naruto regain control of his emotions again.

"Naruto—" Deidara eventually tried.

"I know!" Naruto interrupted hotly. "He might kill me! I get it!" He turned away and showed his back to the three of them, rubbing his face in frustration. "Just one fucking touch is all I wanted," he added quietly, sounding less angry and more defeated now. Deidara gently touched his shoulder in sympathy. He sighed, letting his frustration be replaced with despondency.

Just outside, still standing in the alleyway and trying to catch his labored breath, Sasuke sorted through Naruto's emotions as they coursed through him intensely. He didn't want to hurt his dobe. For now, things had to stay this way. Naruto was right. It'd only been a few days and Sasuke was already going from simply feeling sick to  _looking_  sick. That was own fault though. He knew very well what he was doing to himself. But it was better this way, in the end.

Having Naruto's fingers on his skin had already tried his will enough. Listening to Naruto scream so angrily and feeling him feel such pain in his heart had almost been too much for Sasuke though. That degree of emotional output was too intense for a vampire in Sasuke's position. Not just the prospect of blood riled him up. It was a variety of things. Anything high in intensity gave him bloodlust. His teeth and eyes would react to any highly-charged situation, and Naruto had just tested Sasuke's strength severely. It was only a problem because Sasuke had no strength left to be tested. He was weak.

It was a blessing that Itachi was there. He was able to somehow get enough sense into Sasuke's brain to push Sasuke to leave the bar of his own volition, as opposed to being removed by force. However, he'd only been able to get as far as the alleyway. Because of their blood bond, he could feel Naruto's aura from over a mile away. Putting a few doors between them did nothing in the way of dulling the intensity of the situation for Sasuke. Not even going all the way home would do that. No matter where he was, he would always feel Naruto's emotions. Their connection was far too intense for distance to overshadow. Even if he couldn't escape Naruto's emotional output though, his bloodlust was still quite manageable when Naruto wasn't physically around. It was Naruto's eyes that did Sasuke in.

He could manage the emotional output on his own. It was like dealing with any other human being. He could just shut himself off. Therefore, the temptation was easy to suppress. He could  _not_  manage the way that Naruto looked at him though. The kind of looks that always seeped into those eyes were his undoing. They made it impossible for him to block off his humanity. In a way, the temptation that Naruto forced on to Sasuke reminded Sasuke that he was human after all. He was unable to numb himself to emotions when Naruto was around, when he was staring into those unhindered eyes. Somehow, in a twisted way, what made Sasuke human at all was Naruto inadvertently turning him into a beast.

With those eyes out of sight, it only took Sasuke a few moments before he could compose himself enough to move  _away_  from Naruto as opposed to  _toward_  him. When he moved away though, it was with remorse. He would have liked to see Naruto smile for him.

_To be continued..._


	15. Still Lost

To say that things between Naruto and Sasuke had grown tense would be an understatement, and to say that Naruto dwelt on Sasuke obsessively would be even more of an underplaying. Naruto expended most of his brain function analyzing Sasuke's health. Fortunately, he'd gotten to see Sasuke quite a few times during the past month since their last encounter at Akatsake. He'd seen Sasuke meeting with Gaara on campus a couple of times, but he'd predictably disappear as soon as Naruto arrived on scene. He at least seemed to wait until Naruto caught a glimpse of him before going though. After all, it wasn't like he couldn't tell that Naruto was coming. He had to know, unless he was just too engulfed in his conversations to take notice. Still, Naruto had to wonder if the bastard was just playing games with him. Why else would he let Naruto see him but not approach?

Naruto had also seen Sasuke around the city a few times, simply watching from a distance. He'd always be way off in the crowd and he'd be sure to be completely unimposing. Just like at the university, he'd let Naruto see him lurking before disappearing. Naruto wasn't sure if that was a good thing, or if it was torturous. Every time he saw Sasuke, Sasuke's health would be more and more deteriorated. He would look worse and worse each instance. Sure, Naruto only ever got mere glimpses of the guy, but even from just that he could tell that Sasuke looked sick... like, really sick.

The last time Naruto had seen Sasuke's face, the raven was looking like a homeless drug addict. Since then, however, Naruto hadn't seen hide nor tail of him, and neither had anyone else. No one seemed to be particularly worried though. Kiba did seem a bit anxious, but everyone else just acted like there was nothing to worry about. They must have known exactly where he was and what kind of condition he was in. Naruto tried to adopt their carefree attitudes too, trusting that they would've definitely been there to help Sasuke if he needed them. That seemed impossible though. Like Kiba, Naruto could only fret. He just couldn't help it if he was so goddamn worried.

Sighing, Naruto closed his text book—with the notebook and pencil still inside and everything—and threw it on the floor, recognizing that he simply would not be getting any homework done right now. For a few moments, he just lay there on his bed thinking. Then, he whispered uncertainly, "Sasuke?"

He simply waited for a few long moments, not exactly sure how this was supposed to work. How could he be sure that Sasuke would hear him? What exactly constituted as "calling out" to someone? He cleared his throat and eventually tried again with more conviction.

"Sasuke," he repeated. "Um... Come here, Sasuke," he added.

He rolled onto his back and snorted at how ridiculous he sounded. Sasuke wasn't a dog for christ's sake. Sasuke wouldn't come so easily anyway, so he was wasting his time. He just wanted to talk to Sasuke though. Was that so much to ask? He was just worried. Suddenly, his phone rang and startled him. He thought about just letting it ring, but then he didn't want to offend whoever was calling him. It might have been Kiba with something important, or maybe even Jiraiya. He hadn't talked to his godfather in a long time.

He picked up his phone and answered, caught somewhere between dismal and earnest. "Hello?"

"Please stop calling me. I can't concentrate this way."

Naruto sat bolt upright in his bed. "Sasuke!" he said excitedly.

"Yes, dobe," Sasuke replied, sounding weary.

"I'm sorry," Naruto immediately offered, fearing he was the cause of the exhaustion in Sasuke's voice. "I just—"

"I know," Sasuke murmured, soft but convicted enough to cause Naruto to shut up. "I miss you too."

Naruto had to temper the flourish of emotion in his chest. On one hand, he wanted to cry. On the other, he felt giddy and infatuated beyond belief. He plopped back down onto his back, releasing a heavy breath and smiling in the end.

"Yeah," he agreed. "I miss you."

"I just need a little space," Sasuke assured. "Don't think I've left you, Naruto. It's just space."

Naruto paused for a moment before saying, "But it feels like too much space. Can't I just be concerned about you?"

"Of course," Sasuke assured. "Just don't worry yourself sick. Don't occupy your mind with me so much that you can't even complete one homework assignment."

Naruto snorted in light laughter. Of course Sasuke knew what he was doing. "Yeah, yeah," Naruto said dismissively.

The lightness between them turned into a heavy silence, and Naruto's throat grew thick with emotion again.

"I gotta go," Sasuke said softly.

Naruto closed his eyes. He'd felt that coming. He could say nothing. He didn't want to protest, because Sasuke wanted him to respect the boundaries and he didn't want to disregard Sasuke's feelings, but he also didn't want to say goodbye. So he just said nothing.

"Naruto..." Sasuke's voice only got smaller, more feeble. "Naru—"

"I know, I know," Naruto finally said, cutting Sasuke off before he could be overcome with anymore of the obvious guilt he felt. "I'm being understanding," he assured, even as a slight wobble plagued the steadiness of his voice.

Sasuke sighed, saying tightly, "Goodbye, Naruto."

Naruto refused to return the sentiment. Instead, he just said, "Okay."

Naruto couldn't help the tears that welled up in his eyes when he heard the soft click that denoted the end of their conversation. Now that he'd heard the bastard's voice, and when it was sounding so soft and pained like that too, he felt even worse than before! He wanted to be next to Sasuke so badly! He felt that bud in his chest growing even more. Soon, it would be inescapable. He just wished that he could be closer to Sasuke. They lived less than a mile apart. And, yet, it seemed so much further.

Why did Sasuke have to go and freak out? Sure, Kiba was convinced that this would bring them closer in the end—apparently, Sasuke had to do this in order for them to be able to move forward—but Naruto just couldn't see how forcing them to stay apart was going to bring them any closer at all. Naruto just didn't understand. Why couldn't Sasuke just pour his guts out? Why couldn't he just tell Naruto all those damn "Ask an Uchiha" secrets of his? That way, Naruto could at least understand what the fuck was going on. Then, he could at least feel less awful about everything.

In the end, Naruto couldn't help but succumb to the feeling of abandonment. Sasuke had just said that he wasn't leaving, but it sure felt like he was only getting further and further away by the day. Was Sasuke going to abandon him? He didn't even react as his phone suddenly buzzed in his hand again. Lazily and with very little interest, he lifted his hand to gaze at the screen. He saw Sasuke's name and perked up, quickly opening the text to read the treasure locked inside.

[From: Sasuke] 10:05 p.m.  
Focus on your homework dobe. Tomorrow is your last test before winter break.

Naruto smiled wide.

[To: Sasuke] 10:06 p.m.  
don't call me that

[From: Sasuke] 10:06 p.m.  
Sure thing dobe.

Naruto chuckled with delight, glad that their typical banter stayed strong. This was the Sasuke he was missing.

[From: Sasuke] 10:06 p.m.  
Now focus, okay?

[To: Sasuke] 10:07 p.m.  
idk if i can now

[From: Sasuke] 10:07 p.m.  
Afraid I'll disappear into thin air if you don't devote your entire thought process to me?

Naruto frowned, because that was sort of uncannily true.

[To: Sasuke] 10:07 p.m.  
actually... yeah... a little bit

This time, it took Sasuke a bit longer to reply, so Naruto was overly eager when the text finally came.

[From: Sasuke] 10:08 p.m.  
Text me any questions you're having trouble with, okay? I'll help.

All Naruto could do was smile. It wasn't the same as talking face to face, but he couldn't have that. It wasn't the same as talking on the phone either, but that could, obviously, be very awkward for them. So, he supposed he was more than happy that at least Sasuke wasn't ignoring him anymore. Was this a good sign? Was it a precursor for things to come?

[To: Sasuke] 10:08 p.m.  
okay, focusing

The rest of night went on smoothly for Naruto. He actually finished his homework, not without Sasuke's help on a few questions of course. Math was never Naruto's strong suit, but it would've been easier if Sasuke could have just been there in person. Naruto never mentioned that though. He just accepted what he got. Surprisingly enough, Sasuke's explanations were both simple and clarifying and Naruto ended up actually understanding what he was doing rather than just taking the answers Sasuke had given him. He was feeling pretty confident by the end of the night. He'd definitely be getting a good grade on his mid-term the next day.

[From: Sasuke] 11:56 p.m.  
You oughta get some sleep dobe. Or else you'll be dozing off during your exam. ** ** **  
******

Naruto frowned. Sasuke was right. Naruto did need sleep, but he didn't want to terminate the conversation. He enjoyed talking to Sasuke, even if it was about math. He just liked the correspondence. Part of him feared that Sasuke would cut this off too, that it'd just been a one-time thing because he felt so guilty. But, then again, another part of him believed Sasuke was enjoying it too. That alone was enough to make Naruto believe Sasuke would return for more. Plus, Naruto had the power to text Sasuke himself too. If Sasuke didn't initiate it again, Naruto could very well become the instigator. In the end, he supposed he could relinquish his uncertainties and trust Sasuke to not sever this new tie between them. One thing he wasn't going to do, though, was wish Sasuke goodnight over text. Hell no.

As the phone rang, and rang, and rang, Naruto honestly thought he'd be put through to voicemail. His heart was falling when Sasuke finally answered.

"Dobe."

"Sasuke," Naruto said brightly.

Sasuke sighed. "I really prefer the texting," he informed.

"Oh... Yeah, I figured," Naruto replied, feeling a bit upset that Sasuke was so clearly unenthused about hearing his voice. Was he the only one of the two who got butterflies in his tummy from things like this? "I just wanted to hear you say goodnight."

"Dobe," Sasuke said uncertainly. "Don't get so upset about it."

"How can I not though?" Naruto exclaimed, suddenly very indignant. "All I wanna do every day is be with you. I miss you so much it physically hurts sometimes, but you can't even stand to talk to me on the phone for more than a second. How am I supposed to feel if you so blatantly don't return my affection?"

"Naruto," Sasuke groaned. "It's not like that."

"Then how is it?" Naruto demanded.

Sasuke paused for a moment, and then truthfully divulged, "It's difficult for me. I can't explain in full detail, but I'm losing my strength, Naruto. Your presence is simply impossible right now."

"I know," Naruto said, unfazed. "You've made that impossibly clear by now. I'm not trying to sneak into your apartment, Sasuke. I just wanna hear your voice. Is that so much to ask for? Really?"

Sasuke paused before saying softly, "I'll be honest with you." Naruto waited for another long moment as Sasuke gathered his thoughts. "Your eyes... magnetize me. One look does me in. I'm powerless to you, Naruto. My mind becomes unhinged. I'm at your mercy, and that's scary for someone who relies on his wit and cunning to get by. Your being leaves me breathless. I think it goes without saying that even your voice is a temptation I can hardly deny. I'm weak, Naruto. It's enough fighting your scent and trying to not get lost in your aura every day. Your voice is just too much. It's too much sensation."

Naruto could only gape. He'd expect nothing less than eloquence from Sasuke, but he hadn't expected it to be in such romantic terms. A blush slowly crept into his cheeks.

"And I feel you blushing," Sasuke added. "I can feel you reacting to me, every little bit. I feel the rise in your temperature, the stutter in your heartbeat, the hitch in your breath. I don't have to be there to sense you completely. Don't you think I have enough trouble controlling my reaction to all that without you swooning over my voice and then assaulting me with yours? I mean, honestly, if I listen hard enough, I can hear you talking to yourself sometimes. Are you getting it yet?"

"O-Okay," Naruto conceded. "So when will you be well enough to handle me again?"

Sasuke didn't know how to respond to that, so he chose to avoid the topic. "You should really get some sleep."

"Sasuke—" Naruto began to protest.

"Want me to stay on the line?" Sasuke asked, interrupting. "What should I do? Sing for you?"

Naruto laughed. "Yeah right."

"No?" Sasuke asked. "Not your fancy?"

"Wait. Really?" Naruto asked back. "You'd sing me to sleep?"

"Sure," Sasuke murmured softly. "Whatever you wanted."

Naruto's heart fluttered in his chest and then clenched with adoration. "I won't humiliate you."

"I'm a very good singer, actually," Sasuke assured. "But if you don't want it, I won't force it."

Naruto smiled. "I'd rather experience that in person." He wasn't going to force anything either though. "Goodnight, Sasuke."

"Goodnight."

Sasuke was the one left ruing the soft click that denoted the end of their conversation this time. He clenched his phone tightly in his hand, focusing intently on Naruto's energy. He monitored the way Naruto's stomach fluttered, the way he seemed to get giddy. The reaction would've made Sasuke smirk smugly any other time, but he was feeling especially tempted right now. He closed his eyes and clenched his jaw tight. He was always riding the line between "fine" and "overwhelmed" as of late, but he'd been able to stay firmly on the "fine" side. Naruto's was his undoing though. He could handle texts, he decided. It was a small step in the right direction. But talking? No. Absolutely not.

Sasuke could feel his will dissipating, his mind unwinding. Naruto did that to him, fucked up the security of his own head. Everything Sasuke thought he knew became insignificant and he began to question himself, but that was dangerous. If he was not sound of mind, then Sasuke was nothing. He fought—truly, he did—but Sasuke had to eventually decide that he simply was not strong enough to be by himself. There wasn't a single person around that he felt comfortable calling upon for help, so he had to choose the least of the many evils. And so Sasuke called to Kankuro and hoped that the brunet would be fast.

It took Kankuro longer than Sasuke would have liked. Before Sasuke knew it, he was poised at his own window, his body aching to spring forward and crouching ever-more animalistically the longer that he hesitated. His entire being having been tuned in to Naruto so intently, he didn't noticed when Kankuro appeared behind him.

"Don't," Kankuro warned severely into Sasuke's ear as one of his hands closed tightly around one of Sasuke's wrists.

Sasuke didn't fight. He still had some sanity left within him. He just couldn't force himself to back away of his own free will, but it actually didn't really feel so much like the product of his bloodlust. Yes, his body was reacting to a primal need for sustenance, but that wasn't all this was. Sasuke needed to be told "no" because he didn't want to willingly turn away from Naruto again. The idea pained him. He was weaker than the last time he'd faced Naruto in close proximity, on many frontiers, and he hadn't even seen the man face to face. It'd just been a couple phone conversations. Big deal.

Sasuke turned and began pacing his floor wildly. Freed from the struggle of "to go or not to go", his body slowly wound down. He began to quickly realize how much energy it took just for him to sit at stark attention like that. That was pathetic. How had he grown so weak? How had he let himself fall to this deep of a low? Then again, it was necessary. Kankuro watched Sasuke's feverish pacing slow until Sasuke suddenly just fell to the floor. On his knees and sitting back on his heels, Sasuke leaned forward to support his weight on his hands. His arms trembled slightly, too slight for Kankuro to notice.

"You can leave," Sasuke said, not wanting to be seen in this moment of sudden and total weakness—physically, mentally, emotionally.

"You're weak," Kankuro pointed out. "Standing there expended your energy."

"It's your fault for taking so long just because you're holding a grudge against me," Sasuke argued.

"Look at my face," Kankuro retorted. "Of course I'm holding a grudge."

"Then why'd you come at all?!" Sasuke snapped, though he kept his head bowed down toward the ground.

Kankuro paused. "You never beckon me. I figured that it must've been important."

"You deduced that and yet you still chose to take your sweet time?" Sasuke asked irritably.

"If taking my time would've caused you just a little bit of suffering, I wouldn't have minded," Kankuro replied coldly. "After all, you didn't mind causing me pain and ruining the appearance of my face."

Sasuke was silent for a few moments. "I was feral," he eventually whispered, "out of my mind." He slowly looked up at Kankuro, a strange look in his eyes. "Imagine my point of view. I suddenly felt drawn to this human that I wanted nothing to do with. I tried to block him out of my life, but he persisted. He sat around every corner, never let me leave his view. And then I felt his panic and reacted before I could even rationalize it. I rushed to him, protected him... like he was mine..." Sasuke's eyes drifted away. "But he wasn't. I didn't want him to be. Still, I reacted automatically.

"I'd already tasted his blood by the time you arrived to suck out the venom. The connection intensified within a matter of seconds, and I knew I could never escape at that point. He drew me in so deep, Kankuro. I didn't want it, not at all. I didn't want  _him_ , but I'd tasted him. He had me, and I had no choice but to want him back. That night, there was so much blood. It was everything I could do to not kill what had just become to undeniable object of my affection. What sanity I had left could not be expended on recognizing you for who you were. You know I could do nothing but react in that state. He was mine to protect, or kill. I'm still not sure what I wanna do with him yet. Sometimes, I get so deluded that I think I can do both, like killing him will be the ultimate protection..." Sasuke trailed off and shook his head slightly and grumbled, "I'm still so confused."

After a pause, Kankuro sighed. "I know," he admitted. "Sasuke, why are you doing this to yourself?" Crouching down beside the man, he added, "Isn't it just putting him in an even more dangerous position?"

Sasuke turned his face away. "Just leave," he commanded in a suspiciously feeble tone of voice.

"I still see you as a younger brother," Kankuro said, ignoring that demand. "I always have and I always will, so you can't get rid of me so easily."

"It worked when I slashed your face," Sasuke retorted extra quietly—probably to hide the fact that his voice was breaking, Kankuro suspected.

"You won't get rid of me," Kankuro repeated firmly.

"Leave," Sasuke demanded again but with even less bite than before.

"Why are you punishing yourself for feeling human?" Kankuro asked. "Isn't that what keeps us sane, still feeling like a human and not an animal? You have to face these demons, Sasuke." Sasuke stayed silent, so Kankuro went on. "Let us help you get through this in a better way. When Naruto prompted you, you actually started opening up again. Even now, you're not forcing me away. Don't ruin all that you've done. I know you think he's making it harder. If you let him though, I bet he can make this easier. We all can."

"You can't," Sasuke disagreed. "Just leave me be, Kankuro."

"Why is Naruto the only one who's allowed to see you this way?" Kankuro asked.

"He's not!" Sasuke snapped. He paused before adding, "In fact, he's the last person I want to see me this way."

"So stop forcing yourself into a corner!" Kankuro argued. "Accept some help, Sasuke. Let us help you get to a place where you  _can_  be beside him again. You know this distance is killing you  _both_."

"It's fine this way," Sasuke insisted.

"It's not!" Kankuro shouted impatiently. "You're just antagonizing the situation!"

"He'll be fine," Sasuke said confidently, "because you're all following him and watching him. He's safe."

"Don't forget all the other human lives you're putting in danger!" Kankuro demanded.

"That's why I haven't left the apartment," Sasuke pointed out. Kankuro was so thoroughly put out that he couldn't even argue anymore, so he simply glared. After a short pause, Sasuke added, "The only one who'll be suffering is me. As it should be."

"As it should be?" Kankuro repeated, his tone aghast. He scoffed and shook his head at Sasuke's stupidity. He stayed quiet, though, as he began to pick up a slight trail of some sharp pang in Sasuke's aura. He honed in on it, recognizing it as pain. He analyzed it further, categorizing it as partially physical pain but mostly emotional. Slowly, shock caused Kankuro's mouth to drop. He hadn't been there the night that everyone else had gotten to see the first true glimpses beyond Sasuke's wall of defense. He'd been gone, but he was getting his own glimpse now. It was hard to process at first, because Sasuke never let anybody in. It took a few long moments before Kankuro decided that, yes, this really was Sasuke's emotion and not just a delusion or ruse.

"Are you... letting me feel your pain?" Kankuro whispered, astonished and confused.

Sasuke tensed significantly. His arms trembled furiously just to hold up his weight. Clearly, he hadn't intended to share any of his feelings with Kankuro. He said nothing, but Kankuro continued to feel his pain as it leaked more heavily into his aura by the second. The trickle quickly elevated into a steady steam, and then it was suffocating. Kankuro was physically taken aback by how suddenly intense Sasuke's aura had become. He couldn't fathom how Sasuke possibly suffered this badly in silence. How was it that so much overwhelming emotion plagued him, and yet he was able to seal it all up for no one to see? Was it even possible to contain so much darkness inside one body?

In his weak state of health with Kankuro riling him up, it was clear that Sasuke could not keep a handle on his emotions any longer. Kankuro assessed that it must have been a very severe situation for Sasuke to lose his grip like this, but he also assessed that it wasn't so much the physical or emotional stress that made Sasuke lose his footing. Sasuke was used to those things. It was the mental stress. Sasuke had always been in supreme control of his own mind. He simply had to tell himself that a person didn't matter, and then they just wouldn't. Naruto was in Sasuke's head now though, and he was wedging the doorway open just enough for the influences around Sasuke to seep in subtly as well. The more Kankuro stayed there and further stressed Sasuke's mental frame of mind, the less control Sasuke had over his own energy field.

It was highly intriguing for Kankuro to witness himself influencing Sasuke so easily, to see honest emotion becoming totally unconcealed. But it was also scary to think that Sasuke's mind was slipping so much. It could be a sign of him nearing feral territory. Sasuke was so hardheaded that any wavering in this area could be alarming. So Kankuro, in the end, wasn't actually sure that this moment of vulnerability was a good thing. He was sure of one thing though. He did not like the emotional distress Sasuke was, apparently, always in. It just could not be healthy to live this way.

"Let me help you," Kankuro pleaded softly. The two of them just sat quietly for a few moments while uncertainty and fear began to flood Sasuke's aura too. "It's okay to be anxious," Kankuro said quickly. "You're not used to this. We all understand that. If you try to be different with us too and not just with Naruto, then we can help," he assured. He waited for another emotional response, since Sasuke obviously wasn't going to speak.

Sasuke kept fighting his own self to maintain control over his aura, to block Kankuro out completely. He was weak though... so weak. And he blamed it on his body, because it would be too difficult to admit that, perhaps, he was suffering a change of mind. It was hard to accept that the structure of his own thinking was shifting. It was easier to say he was faltering out of exhaustion of the body, because exhaustion of the mind just wasn't an option for him. His mind was all he had. His thoughts, his decisions were all he could be. They couldn't slip away. They couldn't lose control.

"If you have any respect for me, Kankuro," Sasuke began at just barely more than a whisper, "then you'll leave."

"We love you, Sasuke," Kankuro said softly, touching one of those trembling arms gently. "We really love you."

Sasuke's breathing grew heavy as weariness overcame him. He had no strength left anywhere within him—no strength to hold up his body, no strength to fight his own mind, no strength to stop the tears from cascading down his cheeks. He simply fell forward as his arms finally gave way beneath him and cursed his own vulnerability. It would have been fine to exhaust himself to this extreme if he could have just kept a grip on his mind. Even if he had to lose his mind, that would've been fine too as long as Kankuro hadn't been there to witness it. He was more concerned about the blow to his pride than his own well-being.

Kankuro caught the weak man, even as he was assaulted with a whole new barrage of various emotions that caused his brain to twist and turn and race so heavily that for a moment his brain function was so dedicated to processing that he'd simply lost track of how to even use his body. Everything Sasuke was trying to hold back came pouring out of him and barreling into Kankuro. The brunet was there to feel it all in its entirety, but Sasuke's emotional state was such madness that it became quickly too much for Kankuro to handle.

In the end, Kankuro had to focus to shut himself off. He tapered down his senses, retreating his proverbial feelers and protecting himself from Sasuke's aura. It was basically an automatic thing for vampires to feel out people's energy fields, but it was usually pretty mild and required intent for them to take it beyond a slight inkling. Natural as it came to them, it was also just as easy to shut off the mechanism entirely. Kankuro didn't  _have_  to feel Sasuke if he didn't want to, and he absolutely did  _not_  want to anymore. Feeling Sasuke's pain so fully was causing his own throat to close up with emotion. He had to fight his own tears. He had just felt it all so vividly... too vividly.

Even if Sasuke had been a bit less tightly wound since choosing to get along with Naruto, it'd really only been for Naruto and Naruto alone. It somewhat extended to Kiba too, but not really to anyone else. Part of that was a vampire's natural inclination to protect themselves from others of their kind, since they were largely independent creatures. Sasuke's desire to protect himself from his own family only spoke to how little trust still remained between them though. In the end, he'd still been very wary with everyone around him.

They'd all always been afraid of losing Sasuke completely, but he stayed around and tolerated them as long as they left his personal life alone. They were all stripped of their titles as close friends, family, and people worthy of sharing his life with and they became little more than acquaintances to Sasuke, people he simply allowed in his company. It was mostly the fact that Sasuke meant so much to everyone, even if they had become nearly nothing to him, that made them the only people who could even tolerate his behavior. Naruto was the only one who was allowed truly within Sasuke's bubble. Forcing himself away from Naruto had forced Sasuke to become just as introverted as before though, if not worse.

Kankuro pulled Sasuke into a tight embrace. "I'm so sorry that we haven't been there," he said in a strained voice, trying his damnedest not to cry. "We abandoned you."

Kankuro didn't dare open himself back up to Sasuke's aura again. He could still sense the sheer intensity of it, even as he refused to tap into it. That was how he knew it was purely overwhelming at this point. How could one person even feel so many things at once? What's more, how could he keep them so bottled up like that and not die? Kankuro was truly baffled.

Sasuke had closed himself off to make it a point that no vampire ever caught wind of his emotional being without his knowing, and that was a means of defense. But now, as Sasuke's emotions poured out of him so relentlessly, Kankuro couldn't help but think it was an even better defense than the opposite. No vampire would even wanna touch that shit. They'd sense it and shut off immediately, giving whatever was emanating such an intense aura a wide berth of space. Kankuro wasn't even sure any normal vampire could handle such an intense output without their head exploding or else them just being launched right into ferocity. With this much output bombarding them, it would take a very experienced and in-control vampire to not be driven toward feral tendencies.

"I was the one always pushing you away," Sasuke whispered after a long pause, "but—"

"I know," Kankuro assured. "We all know. Losing Ren changed you completely. So how about we all just admit a truce?" he suggested. "We're all to blame."

Sasuke swallowed thickly. "Ren," he breathed.

The name echoed through the halls of his seemingly empty mind. It did not lead him to thoughts of Naruto, the wedge that slowly brought reform into his life. No, it led him to memories of gore and misery, and that only redefined his absolute need to be sound of mind. He couldn't change his way of thought. He couldn't just change his life over night. That was dangerous. He wasn't rejecting Naruto. No, he was just recognizing that it would take time, a lot of time. He couldn't just stop living his life a certain way in one moment, especially not in his current state of being. He had to stick to his guns. He had to cling to his principles, fight for his own sanity. He could not shut off brain function. He knew that. He couldn't. Almost as if it were a survival instinct, Sasuke slowly began to seal himself up again.

Kankuro only noticed the shift by the suddenly easing atmosphere around him. Even though he wasn't tuning in to Sasuke, he could still sense the general weight of things around him, and it was lightening. Slowly, it dawned on Kankuro that Sasuke was shutting him out again. He immediately reached out for Sasuke, proverbially grasping at his aura and trying to hold on to some of that honest emotion. He didn't need it all, but Sasuke didn't have to just flop between extremes. He could take it in doses. He didn't have to seal it all back up again and choke his own self on its intensity! He could share the burden!

Kankuro clutched his friend tightly, knowing what was happening to be unstoppable and dreading it. "Don't," he begged quietly. "Don't do this again, Sasuke. Please, let me in. Just a little. Please."

Sasuke said nothing. He let Kankuro continue to hug him, but that was mostly because he was too tired to fight the man off. Eventually, Kankuro took Sasuke up to his bed and tucked him in. Sasuke simply stared resolutely at the ceiling, his pride heavily bruised and his ego haughty.

Kankuro sighed at the sight. He knew that what had just happened may have been a once in a lifetime deal. He was sure it was even more intense and enlightening than the display he'd missed so long ago at Akatsake had been. Sasuke would probably rather die than let that happen again. He was stubborn that way, but he was truly remarkable too. Even in his current state, he managed to reclaim control and button back up his frayed ends. Kankuro had to admit that such was pretty amazing.

He knew that what he'd seen this night had been purely borne of exhaustion. Sasuke was not reaching out to him. He was simply too weak to push away. Yet, Kankuro couldn't let bygones be bygones. He felt like it was his duty to show his support for Sasuke in some way. He needed something like a peace offering. Maybe that would help him truly get in, and not by a fluke. How to earn Sasuke's trust, though? Naruto had given them all a window of opportunity. It was obviously not going to be any small task to get in Sasuke's head, as this encounter so bluntly proved. But the encounter also proved that Sasuke's mental frame was not impenetrable. As long as they had the will, there was a way. Naruto had given them that.

"I want to talk, but it's hard when you're like this," Kankuro pointed out. Sasuke still stayed silent. "I'll—"

"I won't accept it," Sasuke interjected evenly. "Just leave." Kankuro opened his mouth to argue. "Leave," Sasuke repeated firmly. "Now."

As difficult as it was, Kankuro decided to oblige. After such a powerful scene, Sasuke was clearly at his wits end, and Kankuro didn't want to push him to that kind of exhaustion again. What he wanted from Sasuke was trust. He didn't want to take the man's power away. So, in the end, all he could do was respect Sasuke's wishes and turn away. Naruto truly was their last hope now. No one else could help Sasuke, just like they'd never been able to before. That didn't mean Kankuro would stop trying, but he wasn't holding out for anything big to come of it either. Naruto couldn't help if Sasuke wouldn't let Naruto be at his side though. It was all up to Sasuke then. How long could he survive like this?

**~ ( >^.^)> <(^.^<) ~**

Sasuke lay on his stomach in his bed. Fortunately for him, Kankuro hadn't been particularly persistent. It'd been a week since their talk and he hadn't seen Kankuro even once. In fact, he hadn't seen anyone... at all. That was how he wanted it though. This was how it was supposed to be. His thoughts wandered to Naruto. He'd been texting Naruto, though admittedly far more sparsely as his condition worsened. Now that he thought about it, it'd been a few days since he'd contacted his companion.

He would've liked to see Naruto. He would've liked to touch his skin, to feel his warmth, to hear his voice. Hm... his voice. Sasuke could manage that, couldn't he? Even if hearing his voice would tempt Sasuke to seek the blond out—and probably kill him—everyone would be keeping an eye on him, so Sasuke would have no chance of actually getting close enough to Naruto to actually hurt him. Even though he'd told Naruto that even just his voice was too much temptation, he was really craving it right now. Naruto's voice. Sasuke could manage that. Right?

He tried to move, but nothing happened. He willed himself to reach for his phone to call Naruto, but nothing happened. Instead of being angry, his inability to react made him upset. God, Sasuke fucking Uchiha getting  _upset_. Who was he becoming? Nonetheless, his eyes began to sparkle with tears. He would've been grateful for immobility in any other situation, but it was upsetting when it stopped him from being able to seek the comfort of Naruto. Was that true? Was Sasuke seeking comfort in Naruto? Yes, he supposed that he was. It'd always been that way with Ren too. Her voice had always been calming to him. She was his anchor, his tie to humanity. She'd kept him sane. Her voice had always done so much for him.

~xXxXxXx~

_"I'm scared, Sasuke. I'm so scared."_

~xXxXxXx~

That time, her voice hadn't been able to save him though. Her voice had been trembling with fear. She'd been crying. Her voice hadn't been any kind of salvation. Sasuke's tears decided themselves that they would fall and soak his bedspread. He didn't really mind though. He was alone. It wasn't easy holding the tears in for so many years. Now, it might be okay to finally cry just a little bit.

The feeling of despair began to intensify in his chest. He was truly alone. He could die here... alone. It wasn't like he  _would_  die here. If he did, it wouldn't be for quite some time to come still. He was  _alone_  though, and that was what hurt him now. He didn't want to be alone. He wanted comfort that only Ren could provide with that skill that she'd somehow passed on to Naruto. He couldn't have Naruto though. He had to remain alone. Even if he wanted to see his dobe, he couldn't. He had committed to this already, and no one was going to come and try to convince him otherwise anymore.

But he deserved this, didn't he? He deserved to feel this despair. He deserved this pain, this suffering, this loneliness. He didn't deserve Naruto at all, not one bit. The tears fell more freely. In fact, he deserved to die. He truly did.

So lost in his head, Sasuke couldn't sense the person approaching. He didn't hear them knocking on his door. He didn't hear them pleading from the other side. He didn't hear them enter when they realized that the door wasn't even locked. He didn't even smell the blood pumping through their veins as they approached. Only when they finally spoke did he finally react.

"Sasuke? A-Are you dead?"

Sasuke couldn't speak. He could only cry more earnestly. Even if he'd just been throwing a pity party, he didn't actually want to see Naruto. It was too dangerous! It was better to be miserable and alone than to be in Naruto's company and constantly run the risk of killing him. Seeing that his body was trembling and hearing small whimpers escape from his lips, Naruto decided that Sasuke wasn't dead at all. How wasn't he though? He was sickeningly thin.

"What's wrong with you?" Naruto asked. He touched Sasuke's skin to find that it was ice cold. He made himself comfortable on the bed and pulled Sasuke into his lap, wrapping the comforter snugly around the man's body as well.

"Why are you so cold? Why are you so thin?" he asked. Sasuke's eyes were shut and he stayed silent. Tears kept falling, though he made no noise now.

"Can you say something to me?" Naruto asked.

"Go away," Sasuke managed to whisper. The tone he used was heartbreaking though. There was no conviction to it at all.

"Yeah right," Naruto replied. "I'm really worried about you, Sasuke. I haven't heard from you in days."

Sasuke had no strength in his muscles at all, but he started to feel like his arms could move again anyway. "How'd you get here?" he asked very quietly. It seemed that he couldn't manage much more than a whisper.

"I walked," Naruto replied lightly.

Sasuke kept his eyes closed. If he couldn't see his target, then maybe he'd be less inclined to attack. If those eyes just stayed out of his line of vision, then maybe it would turn out okay. Although, his bloodlust would be pretty black and white this time. There would be no emotional trigger. This time, it would simply be out of hunger. There was blood in those veins, and Sasuke was literally starving. It was inevitable.

"They're supposed to be watching you," he said, sounding purely miserable.

"They are," Naruto informed. "Itachi's been with me all day. In fact, he's just standing outside your door. He said that he wouldn't stop me if I wanted to come over and try to talk to you... so I did."

Sasuke felt out the surrounding area and, indeed, discovered Itachi just outside his door. He'd have to be careful. He'd have to be sure to suppress his emotions as much as possible, which had been slowly becoming a difficult task since his encounter with Kankuro. It seemed his mind was slipping from his grip more every day, and for some reason it was getting difficult to make sense of what was happening within. With a scrambled head, it wasn't easy to focus on what was and was not seeping out for anyone to plainly see. But having spent so much time alone in his apartment, there wasn't really anyone around to ever see anyway. He found himself capable of expertly sealing himself off anyway. He knew on the inside that it was wrong. He needed to project his emotions. He needed to practically scream his intentions at the top of his lungs, but there was a primal desire that rendered him helpless to his own self.

"Idiot," he groaned. "I could kill you." He was already plotting how.

"Really?" Naruto said. He snorted, completely unconvinced. "I'd like to see you try."

"You can't even move," Naruto went on, his voice getting quiet again. "Tell me what's wrong with you," he requested worriedly.

Sasuke managed to wiggle an arm free from the comforter cocoon. Trembling, his hand sought out Naruto's skin. "Naruto," he whispered, his voice croaky.

"Y-Yes..." Naruto grabbed Sasuke's hand with his own. After a slight moment of hesitation, he even placed Sasuke's hand on his cheek.

Sasuke was at war with himself. It was like the beast inside was in control of his body, but he was there to spectate. He was unable to interfere with his actions, but he was free to commentate. He opened his eyes, looked right up into Naruto's sparkling, blue orbs, and his lips trembled. He couldn't believe what he was in the throes of doing.

"Naruto," he croaked again in a broken voice.

It was partly true emotion, but it was also just an antic to make himself seem vulnerable in order to bring his prey in close enough to make the kill. He moved his hand to Naruto's neck and lightly began tugging him down. Naruto obliged like a true dobe. Once Naruto was close enough, Sasuke would use up whatever energy he could muster from his muscles to attack for good, and he would attack to kill. There was no sense in trying to feed from wriggling prey when you were so weak. Dead people didn't fight back, so Naruto would have to be dead.

"G-Go home," Sasuke whispered in a pathetic tone. "Please, just go home."

He gripped Naruto's neck more tightly, his actions directly contrasting his words. They were so close now. A few more inches and Sasuke would spring to life. He was so close to that beautiful neck. For a moment, he wasn't sure if he wanted to kiss it or bite it. That argument was settled quickly though. He needed that neck. He needed it. Oh, fuck! He really needed it! And the part of him that was pleading with Naruto slipped away. No longer was he there to spectate or provide commentary. He was gone to another place entirely, replaced by a simple, primal need.

"Let him go," Itachi said sternly.

One of Itachi's hands were placed on Naruto's chest to keep him from leaning down any further. He stared intensely into his brother's eyes. Naruto stayed quiet while Sasuke's inner animal showed its true colors, hissing a challenge at Itachi. He was weak. He knew he couldn't fight, but the animal inside didn't care. It simply wanted its meal, even if it had to exhaust itself to death for it. His fingers tightened on Naruto's neck, beginning to leave a bruise and causing Naruto to grimace.

"Sasuke, ow," Naruto complained, trying to push himself up and out of the hold. That only caused Sasuke to tighten his grip even further, prompting Naruto to complain yet again. " _Ow_ ," he whined and then winced.

"Let him go!" Itachi commanded more forcefully.

Sasuke simply hissed again, so Itachi had to pry his fingers from Naruto's neck. He jerked Naruto off the bed and Naruto stumbled to catch his footing and understand what had just happened. One second he was sitting on the bed and then he was stumbling around behind Itachi the next. Even if he didn't quite understand how Itachi had moved him so easily or quickly, he did understand that he'd been moved.

"There you go stealing my chance to fucking touch him again," Naruto grumbled angrily. "You said I could have privacy."

"That was before I truly understood the situation," Itachi said. "I thought that things felt a bit odd, so I glanced in to check. It's not that I didn't know his condition.  _Because_  of his condition, I expected to feel malcontent from him, but I didn't. When I saw you cradling him in your lap paired with all the things I heard you saying, I had to come in."

Naruto's brows knit in confusion. "You mean you already knew he'd be like this when we got here?" he asked.

"Yes," Itachi answered simply.

"And you just didn't care?!" Naruto shouted, suddenly very angry on Sasuke's behalf. "You just—"

"Naruto!" Itachi snapped, efficiently shutting the blond up. "Of course I care, but there's nothing I can do. This was his decision, and he refused interference. He's choosing to starve himself," Itachi said gruffly, kneeling on the bed and rolling up his sleeves. "That's not my fault."

It took Naruto a minute to register Itachi's words. Of course. Starving. That was the obvious conclusion. Why else would Sasuke be nothing but skin and bones? Slowly, Naruto returned his gaze to Sasuke. "Why do you have to be so fucking dramatic?" he asked, though there was no bite to it at all.

"Don't insult my brother," Itachi demanded harshly as he pulled the blanket off of Sasuke and repositioned him so that he was now laying in Itachi's lap. Naruto looked back at Itachi, startled by that reaction, and Itachi met him with a hard stare. "You don't have any clue as to  _why_ he's doing this, so shut up." He held Naruto's gaze until Naruto was too embarrassed and looked away. Internally, he beckoned his partner. Within a few short moments, Deidara appeared in the room beside Naruto.

"Naruto," Itachi began again, looking weary, "I let you come for a reason. I wanted you to see what you were getting into. In this desperate state, Sasuke tried to lure you in and bring you close enough for his instincts to take over. He's too weak to move, but once the prospect of a meal shows up, we'll do whatever we can to survive. You're just a meal to him. That's it."

"No," Naruto said quietly, looking down at the ground. Itachi's eyes were too difficult to look into. Naruto had never seen him in such a serious light before. "I refuse to believe that," he added meekly, afraid to refute Itachi but unwilling to concede all the same.

"That's because this isn't Sasuke," Itachi went on to explain. "This is another being entirely. You cannot forget that sometimes this is what you will have to face. If you intend to continue on at my brother's side, you must understand that he is a predator and you are his main source of food."

"No," Naruto said again, even more meekly.

"Do not be naïve!" Itachi boomed, starling Naruto with his suddenly very loud voice. Naruto bowed his head even further. "Accept the facts or else you'll get yourself killed!" Itachi demanded impatiently.

After a moment, Deidara gently asked, "Do you understand, Naruto?"

Naruto nodded slowly, refusing to look Itachi in the eyes again.

"Good," Itachi said. He looked back at his younger brother in his lap, who was resigned to simply glaring at him. He sighed heavily, knowing that Sasuke would be against what he was about to do if Sasuke had any humanity left within him to argue at the moment.

"I'm sorry," Itachi said quietly before placing his wrist against Sasuke's lips. Without hesitation, Sasuke latched on. His hands flew up from their limp position at his sides to grab onto Itachi's arm tightly. Itachi didn't even flinch, even though Sasuke had a bone-crushing death-grip on him.

He used his free hand to stroke Sasuke's hair gently. He knew that Sasuke would hate it, but Sasuke was too preoccupied to care at the moment. It made Itachi feel better though, to be able to interact with Sasuke this intimately. It'd been so many years since his little brother had accepted him. That was the price that he'd had to pay for leaving Sasuke at such a young age though. When he looked back into Sasuke's eyes, he could see him slowly returning to consciousness. The first thing that he saw past the wild quality of those crimson eyes was a request, a silent but desperate plea prying its way to the forefront.

Itachi sighed. Despite his original intents, he simply said, "Naruto, go home."

Naruto snapped his head up. "Wait!" he exclaimed indignantly. "You said I could talk to him! I haven't gotten a chance yet!"

"Next time," Itachi promised, still gazing at his little brother intently, reading everything that was hidden behind those eyes.

Tears began welling up in Naruto's eyes. "Please!" he begged. He began to panic even more when Deidara grabbed him by the arm and prepared to escort him out of the apartment. "Please!" he exclaimed again, those tears falling down his cheeks. He couldn't help it if he got emotional. He'd been wanting this moment so badly for so long. To see Sasuke and then have him taken away again was just torture. "Don't make me go!" Naruto pleaded.

Itachi didn't even look up, or perhaps he couldn't bring himself to. He could turn into a stern guy real quick, especially if it involved his loved ones, but he wasn't heartless. He knew how much Naruto had been looking forward to this. The man had practically skipped over here when Itachi said that they could come. Now Itachi was being forced to send him away. He couldn't look into those dejected eyes that were pleading for sympathy, for pity. He had to heed his brother's request though. Sasuke came first, and what little part of Sasuke that was beginning to awaken again wanted Naruto to leave. Itachi had to do this, even if it broke his heart to break Naruto's heart. He had to be stern.

"Go home," he repeated quietly.

"Itachi!" Naruto hollered desperately.

"He'll be fine," Deidara assured Naruto, pulling him into a loose hug. "If Ita can just have some time to talk to him, then maybe he'll get better so that you two can be next to each other again soon." Naruto quieted and watched Sasuke longingly. "It'll be better soon. I promise," Deidara promised. "Let's go." He gently tugged Naruto along. Reluctantly, Naruto allowed Deidara to lead him away.

_To be continued..._


	16. Severance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I found this song to match this chapter super fucking well, so I'll just put it here for you guys :) It's Swans by Unkle Bob.
> 
> Warnings:  
> —Blood & self-harm.  
> —Drug abuse.  
> —MURDER D:

Naruto sighed lightly, tapping idly on the wood of the bartop as he awaited Itachi's return. He knew that Itachi had been going to see Sasuke every morning for the past couple of weeks. He wanted to intercept Itachi and beg to be taken along, but he never did. No, he  _couldn't_. He couldn't work up the nerve. What he was afraid of, he wasn't entirely sure. Perhaps it was just the prospect of Itachi saying no. If he got his hopes up again just to be torn down, he wasn't sure how he'd handle that. Perhaps it was Sasuke though. Perhaps Naruto was afraid of what Sasuke had become.

He couldn't even hope to understand what was happening with Sasuke, as he hadn't earned the luxury of understanding. He hadn't earned Sasuke's trust or his love, two things that he needed in order to be let into his closely guarded life and, in return, heart. Naruto wasn't allowed knowledge though. He was constantly left in the dark. Whatever Sasuke was going through was something that Naruto could not yet understand.

He could understand those eyes though. He could understand the look that Sasuke got when he was going feral. He could understand the moments when his life was in danger. Sure, he tried to deny it right to Itachi's face, but he understood. He couldn't lie to himself. He'd felt the fear and apprehension when Sasuke tried to bring him closer. His deepest instincts were telling him to get away, that he was getting closer and closer to not a man... but a monster.

He hated that word with all of his might. Monster. It was a sick and degrading term. Yet, he had to use it. There was no sugar-coating this situation. Sasuke had tried to kill him. He'd cleverly used Naruto's own feelings against him in order to pull him in. Itachi was right. Naruto was just prey. He couldn't keep avoiding these terms. Monster. Prey. He had to face it, to embrace it, and to understand that it only covered  _half_  of what Sasuke truly was. If he couldn't do that, then he couldn't have any sort of future with the man. He couldn't very well live beside Sasuke if he refused to face the fact that he could very possibly become Sasuke's dinner if he wasn't careful. He couldn't afford to be careless, not if he wanted to be back at Sasuke's side.

He didn't understand much, but he understood that Sasuke had a bitter past. There was something that terrorized him every day of his life, something that Naruto had some kind of connection to. Ren. Naruto was like Ren. He gleaned that much. But who was Ren?  _What_  was she? What was she to  _Sasuke_? How was Naruto like her? What had happened with her? Why did her name make Sasuke so scared and so quick to clamp up? And why did she influence Naruto and Sasuke's relationship too?

If Naruto had been a stronger man, or perhaps just stupider, he would've begged Itachi to take him along to Sasuke's days ago. He couldn't though because, yes, he was afraid. He was afraid of Sasuke. All the courage he could muster up only afforded him the leisure of walking to Akatsake and simply waiting for Itachi to return this morning. Then, he could just ask about Sasuke. That would be enough. He just needed to know that Sasuke was okay, that he was getting better. He needed to hear that he would soon be able to be beside him again, that he would be able to get closer to the man. He needed to be able to earn the right to some answers. Or maybe answers didn't matter as much as just being near Sasuke again.

Lost in thought, Naruto didn't even hear Itachi enter. The man strolled up to the bar and vaulted over it silently. Naruto continued to stare at his fingers as they nervously drummed on the bartop. Itachi simply watched in silence for a few long moments before setting about his morning duties. Itachi's movement caught Naruto's eye. Surprisingly, he didn't startle though. He was somewhat over the sudden appearances of his vampire friends by this point. There was something more important on his mind too. He had no time for shock and awe.

"How is Sasuke?" he asked eagerly and, yet, so hesitantly.

Itachi sighed and glanced up from his work of wiping off the last remnants of water from a group of nearly dry glasses. "You're not supposed to be wandering around alone," he said evenly.

"I'm not," Naruto ensured. "Deidara is around here somewhere."

"Yes, and he's been around here ever since I left. Meaning he wasn't with  _you_  when you came over," Itachi retorted.

"How do you know that?" Naruto asked meekly.

"I know where he is and who he's with at all times," Itachi answered.

"That's a little over-protective, don't you think?" Naruto commented.

"It's like that with all vampire couples," Itachi replied. "If you were a vampire, it'd be like that with Sasuke too." Naruto bushed lightly at the implication that he and Sasuke were a couple. Itachi ignored it though. "Because of my bond to Dei, I can sense him at all times without thinking about it. Therefore, I know exactly where he is and what he's doing naturally. Therefore, you wandered over here all alone, didn't you?"

Naruto flushed at having been caught in a lie and downcast his eyes. "I was just worried," he mumbled.

"Yes, I know," Itachi said. "You've been worried enough for every vampire in the city to notice, but you can be worried and have an escort at the same time, Naruto." He spared a reprimanding glance up from his work. "Sasuke won't forgive me if you end up dead."

"Fine," Naruto said. "I'll be more responsible. So how is he?"

Naruto was awarded nothing but a long pause. He was just about to speak again when Itachi finally answered. "He's alive."

Naruto sighed a sigh of annoyance. "Itachi," he said firmly, "that's not enough for me. What's going on?" Itachi glanced up at Naruto momentarily before returning to his task. After a few long moments, Naruto decided that he was being ignored. "Fucking tell me!" he demanded.

Itachi set the glass he was working on back down and planted his hands firmly on the bar, his hard gaze fixed on Naruto's equally unwavering stare. They simply stared at each other intensely for a few moments. "He's alive," Itachi finally repeated before returning to his work again.

Naruto scowled at the man. "I don't understand why I'm always the one left in the dark!" he snapped. "You do realize that I'm the one who cares about Sasuke the most, right?"

Itachi snorted. "Is that so?"

"Yeah!" Naruto assured loudly.

"Hmm," Itachi hummed. "You're probably right because you've known each other for so long," he said mockingly.

Naruto huffed. "So what? Doesn't mean I don't care about him," he retorted.

"Never said you didn't," Itachi said easily.

"You know what?" Naruto began angrily. "I can't get any closer if you all keep pushing me the fuck out!" he hollered, slamming his fists down on the bar. "Just fucking tell me how he's doing!"

Itachi held Naruto's furious gaze for a few seconds before saying simply, "He's alive."

"Just tell him," Deidara said from behind Naruto before the latter could get any angrier. He strolled up and placed a hand on Naruto's back, a gesture of solidarity. "He's worried, Ita. Is that so bad?"

Naruto knew that, after one glance at Deidara, Itachi was done for. He sighed in defeat. "He goes to the underground market a lot, so I've heard, but he still hasn't stocked his apartment," he began, "so I don't know what he's going there for. Now that he's strong enough to deny, he won't accept my blood. He only ever took just enough from me to get stable again. The fact that he doesn't look any weaker tells me that he's not starving himself anymore. The fact that he doesn't look any stronger either after two weeks tells me that he's feeding only on vampires. Our blood isn't nourishing in any respect. It can keep us going, but it doesn't help or hinder us. In short, he's just surviving."

Naruto thought the information over quietly for a moment. "So he needs blood?" he eventually asked.

"There's nothing you can do, Naruto," Itachi quickly assured, "so just let him work this out however he wants." Naruto didn't seem moved by the words, so Itachi went on, "He doesn't want help." And, because Naruto still didn't seem fazed, he added, perhaps a bit more harshly than necessary, "—especially not yours."

"I know," Naruto said in a suspiciously calm manner. "I'm just curious. That's his issue, right? Blood."

Itachi glared but hesitantly answered, "More or less."

Naruto grinned. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"

Itachi eyed him warily. "Why are you so happy?" he asked.

Naruto snorted with laughter. "Because, Itachi, I love your brother," he said cheerfully. It took a second for him to realize what he'd said, but he blushed crimson when he did. "I-I mean," he began stammering. "I-I just... u-uh..."

Itachi simply smirked at him. Even Deidara couldn't hide his grin.

"Don't be embarrassed," Deidara urged. "It's cute."

Naruto's eyes widened and he stammered more unintelligible things before simply turning and walking briskly away. "S-Someone escort me home!" he demanded loudly, his face the brightest red it'd ever been. A chuckling Deidara hurried after him, eager to tease.

**~ ( >^.^)> <(^.^<) ~**

Naruto went over his provisions mentally for the millionth time. Three syringes full of anti-venom in his backpack. Two full bars of specially laced chocolate in his pants pocket. It was a good thing that Kankuro was thoughtful enough to give him these things. They would finally prove useful. Although, they would've been especially useful the night that he'd gotten attacked, but he was in no position to utilize them at all at the time. Plus, Sasuke was there to save his ass. In any case, he hoped that they would do their job now. Actually, he hoped that they wouldn't be necessary at all.

He glanced nervously at his surroundings. He was already in sketchy territory. In fact, he had been for about two blocks now. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary though. He didn't have that feeling of being watched from all angles this time. He reassured himself that he'd be fine. He remembered a time when Kankuro assured him that no one would touch him simply because he was Sasuke's. That wasn't true at all at the time but it was almost definitely true now, so he should be protected by that status... right?

Although, Kankuro did also say that it would only take one brave vampire to toss all caution to the wind and take a stab at one of the Uchiha family's soft spots. People would want to hurt him just because he was claimed by Sasuke too... but that was where Sai came in. He'd also claimed Naruto. As far as this city's vampires were concerned, two very intolerant vampires had a stake on Naruto. He would be fine. No one would attack him... right?

He glanced around himself nervously again, but the coast was still clear. He was approaching the spot where he'd last been attacked by a vampire. This time, though, he  _wanted_ someone to approach him. As insane as that sounded, he needed a guide. Thankfully, or maybe unfortunately, one was revealed.

"Back again?" a voice called out to him from the shadows, not daring to actually approach. Everyone had gotten Sai's memo loud and clear. Add that to the rumor that he was also Sasuke's pet and everyone was convinced to stay a fair distance away.

Naruto tensed. "Don't come close," he warned.

The man didn't step out from the shadows, but Naruto could feel the leer on him anyway.

"What're you wandering around here for? Have you not learned your lesson?" the man asked patronizingly.

"Just tell me where the entrance to the market is," Naruto demanded firmly, trying to sound courageous and unmoved, even if he really felt like neither of those things.

The faceless man snorted. "Why the hell would you wanna go down there?" he asked.

"Just tell me," Naruto replied.

There was a long pause and Naruto felt his uneasiness rise as he felt more and more eyes resting upon his form. He would be fine... right? Suddenly, a small silhouette formed from the shadows. Naruto tensed, ready to slip his hand into his bag at any moment. He was frozen solid when a child began to approach him though.

"She'll show you the way," the man said flatly.

The little girl walked up and grabbed Naruto's hand. She smiled kindly up at him and started pulling him along. He followed her in astonishment. He knew that they must exist, but... well... he guessed he'd never really thought about it. A vampire  _child_. This little girl couldn't have been any older than six. She hummed pleasantly as she led him around a corner into an alley. His eyes were transfixed on her golden hair loosely flowing behind her as she gracefully walked along. She peeked back at him with one bright, blue eye and giggled. Her voice was soft and innocent. If she attacked him, what could he do? How could he ever touch this innocent little girl roughly or any child at all, for that matter?

He continued along behind her absently as she led him down some steps and through a door. Finally, she stopped and let him go. She pointed to a door at the end of the hall that they now stood within. "It's through there," she said softly. She looked up at his face and smiled weakly. It was clear to Naruto that she feared this place. Naruto nodded and slowly began walking forward. "Be careful, mister," the little girl added from behind him. He spared one last glance back at her small face before she disappeared.

He gulped hard as he faced the door again and took slow steps forward. He hadn't really prepared for this as well as he thought he had. This was the  _vampire market_  for fuck's sake... and he was relying on a fucking  _reputation_  to keep his ass safe. How could he walk through that door and expect to survive? He supposed that whoever was beyond that door had sensed him and smelt his blood already anyway though. He'd come this far, so he might as well just go on. For Sasuke. Courageously, he pulled on the handle of the door and pushed it inward.

For an underground market, the place was immaculate. It wasn't dark or dank in any respect at all. There were what seemed to be little shops lining what was like an avenue. He could see that the format was relatively the same in any direction. It was like a small town, if anything, within the building, and there were vampires  _everywhere_. They were stopped frozen at every shop, all silently staring at him. Slowly, he entered and let the door swing shut behind himself.

"Umm," he began, his mouth bone dry. He cleared his throat. "Can anyone tell me... where to... get blood?" he asked meekly.

Not a single person stirred. They simply stared. For a short, tense while, Naruto simply stared back, unsure of what the hell else he could do. He was in the thick of seriously questioning his sanity when someone finally spoke up.

"Oh, dear. This won't do."

Naruto was instantly put off, but he found it difficult to react in his current position. He sought out the source of the voice. He found the man leaning leisurely against a shop to his immediate left, grinning at him in amusement.

"Not you," Naruto said. It was intended to be a snarl, but his nerves were weak under the scrutiny of so many dangerous eyes.

Sai barked with laughter. "Don't be so cold," he said. "After all, I'm the only one here who isn't thinking about killing you." Naruto spared another glance around the crowd of people. He looked back at Sai uneasily, but tried to scowl nonetheless. "Don't worry," Sai said, kicking off the shop and strolling toward Naruto. "I'll take care of you." He winked at Naruto as he came to a stop beside him. From one of his glares around the room, everyone slowly went back about their business. Sai looked back at Naruto and smiled. "Shall we?" he offered, nodding for Naruto to follow him. Reluctantly, Naruto did as expected of him. He didn't really have much of a choice though. "Humans don't come to this place," Sai began, "obviously." Naruto rolled his eyes. Yes, that  _was_  obvious. "But I guess you're here for Sasuke," Sai added.

Naruto tensed a bit. "What would you know about it?"

"A lot more than you think," Sai said easily. "Sasu and I are so close, you see."

Naruto snorted. "Yeah right," he muttered.

"I'm hurt by that reaction," Sai said dramatically. "I know you're here to get him blood so he doesn't starve himself," he informed, glancing over his shoulder at Naruto, who was one step behind with his eyes narrowed into a glare. "See? I know things," Sai gloated.

"Doesn't mean anything," Naruto said harshly.

Sai shrugged. "I also know that he doesn't really  _need_  any blood," he went on, "so you're risking your life for nothing at all."

"You don't really know anything at all then," Naruto said.

Sai only smirked smugly. "Feeding on vampires is enough to keep him going," he informed. "He doesn't need supplements."

Naruto downright scowled. "Why do you know so much about his situation?"

"How could I not?" Sai said back easily. "He's only been attached to me like a leech."

Naruto's heart stuttered and so did his footing, but he recovered quickly. "You're lying."

"Why would I do that?" Sai asked innocently. "Ever since Halloween, I've had to feed double just to please his insatiable appetite." He smirked devilishly. "In  _and_  out of the bedroom."

Naruto's mouth went dry. Was Sai telling the truth, or was he just taunting?  _Was_  Sai the one that Sasuke had gone to see on Halloween? Had Sasuke truly been with Sai all along?

"What else do you know?" Naruto asked quietly.

"Hmm... well... I wouldn't wanna give his secrets away," Sai replied. Naruto glared at him, so Sai added, "—but I guess you could just find out for yourself."

He stopped and glanced at the shabby structure they now stood in front of, prompting Naruto to follow his example.

"Apparently," Sai began, "my skills in the bedroom aren't euphoric enough for him..." Naruto tensed. "—so he often comes here for a little something extra. Who can blame him though?" Sai shrugged. "Everyone needs an escape. Although, I did advise him against needles. Why mar that beautiful skin of his, right?"

Naruto snapped his eyes back to Sai's smug face. "What?"

"Oops," Sai said, covering his mouth in mock innocence. "I've said too much, but since we're already here and I can't exactly stop you from finding him in room 5B..." He trailed off, shrugging.

Naruto rushed heedlessly past the curtain and down the hall beyond, scanning the doors for 5B. As soon as he found it, he burst in without reservation. The room was small and it had a shabby bed in the far corner with nothing but a ragged blanket on it. What he saw  _on_  the bed was what had his knees wobbling instantaneously though. There Sasuke was, tube wrapped around his arm, head leaning back against the wall, and needle still stuck in his vein.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted, rushing over and ripping the needle out of the raven's arm. He didn't pause to worry about ripping Sasuke's veins, although that was a very real possibility with acting so brashly. The emotions coursing throughout him were so intense that all sense left him completely.

Sasuke quickly came to life once the needle was snatched away. He'd already taken his dose... well... fifth dose... but the needle was still precious to him. He didn't care who it was, what they were doing, or why. He simply needed his needle back. The drugs must have made him sluggish, though, because he went about trying to snatch his needle back from Naruto at surprisingly normal speed, despite how dire the situation was to him. Naruto, however, began to play an expert game of keep away. In a fit of frustration, Sasuke slammed Naruto up against the wall hard and snatched back his prize. Without even realizing who it was that he had just confronted, Sasuke scrutinized his needle to check it closely for any damage. If it was cracked... oh... if it was cracked, then he would murder that piece of shit right then and there.

"S-Sasuke!" Naruto hollered indignantly.

Sasuke didn't response to his name. He was still very oblivious of the fact that Naruto was  _Naruto_. So Naruto did the only thing that he felt equipped to do other than yell or perhaps cry. He balled his fist and punched Sasuke clear across the face. That snapped him right into vampire mode. He staggered back a couple of steps before hissing wildly and slamming Naruto back against the wall in the blink of an eye. His fangs were bared for a fight—a murder, to be more accurate. Naruto whimpered breathlessly in pain as all the air rushed out of his lungs, but he refused to shut his eyes. He wanted Sasuke to see him, to really  _see_  him.

In that moment when Sasuke finally met Naruto's gaze, a little piece of himself came crawling back into his skin. In a fashion that was not at all befitting of his attitude as of late, his fangs snapped back to a much less threatening state and his eyes cleared. They even began to water. For once, Sasuke was in complete control. Slowly, he backed away, letting Naruto drop back down to stand on his own two feet. He swallowed thickly and shook his head in slight denial. He hadn't... He hadn't just done such a thing to Naruto... to...

"Naruto...?" he choked out hoarsely.

"How touching," Sai commented, leaning casually against the door frame.

Sasuke snapped his attention to the other vampire. "What did you bring him here for?" he snarled, his fangs once again bared.

Sai feigned hurt. "What? Little ol' me?" he said, batting his eye lashes innocently.

Sasuke, having no patience for these games at all, advanced on Sai quickly. His hand was already halfway through a downward motion to slash at Sai when Sasuke appeared before the man, but Sai caught Sasuke's wrist tightly and stopped him dead in his tracks.

Sai tsked disapprovingly. "I don't like being touched that way," he said, suddenly very serious. "Back off," he commanded. Sasuke's lip twitched momentarily into a defiant snarl, but he was begrudgingly glared into submission anyway.

"You must be confused, Naruto," Sai commented, taking note of the blond's bewildered expression. "Let me explain." He released Sasuke's wrist and ran his fingers through the man's hair. Sasuke scowled but did nothing else. "You see, Sasuke is quite compliant when he's had his poison. He's especially obedient when you're the one supplying him with it." Eyes still trained on Naruto, Sai moved his hand from Sasuke's dark locks to, instead, caress his cheek gently. "He's like puddy in the palm of my hand."

Naruto felt the urge to puke. But, then again, Sai always had that effect on him. "D-Don't touch him," he demanded weakly. "S-Sasuke..." Sasuke refused to look at Naruto. "Don't... Don't let him touch you," Naruto said, though it was more of a plea. Sasuke clenched his fists and turned his head down and away from Naruto's eyes, which flashed with hurt at the gesture. "I don't believe this," he muttered quietly.

Sai chuckled. "No?" he said, clearly very amused with the whole situation.

Suddenly, he was in the narrow space between Naruto and the wall. One of his hands was clamped under Naruto's chin, pulling up to expose his throat, while his other arm was slung tightly across Naruto's mid-section, holding their bodies together and keeping Naruto's arms from getting in the way.

"Then let's see what he does if I touch you like this," Sai suggested, hissing in Naruto's ear.

Naruto began to squirm. "Let me go!" he demanded.

Sai rumbled with chuckles. "Hah! Look at that! He won't even look at you!" he exclaimed gleefully. "You see, Naruto? He's not yours." He placed his lips right up against Naruto's ear and whispered, "He's mine."

Naruto struggled more fervently. "S-Sasuke!" he called out angrily, demanding the man's attention.

Sasuke only turned further away. If he interfered, then Sai would stop supplying him with drugs, along with the other more illicit things that they did together. He hissed at himself quietly, despising himself for how easily he was controlled by Sai. The drugs were already affecting him though, and it was hard to focus on much of anything at all. Even if drugs affected vampires a bit differently than humans, five syringes of heroine was enough to throw him significantly off kilter.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called out more desperately, but he still received no reply.

"Sasuke~" Sai sang so pleasantly that it was  _un_ pleasant. "Haven't you been dying to taste his blood again? I'll hold him for you." He forced Naruto's chin up even further, causing Naruto to grimace slightly and labor harder to breathe. "He's ready~"

Sasuke tensed incredibly and turned away completely, bracing himself against the wall with both hands to keep his temptation at bay. Although, the high he was getting made that quite difficult. Bloodlust and drugs did not mix well. Sasuke didn't usually have to worry about that little issue though, because this was around the time when Sai would usually let Sasuke feed on him... among other things.

"No?" Sai chirped. "Well, I know  _I've_  been dying to get another taste," he commented.

Naruto truly began to panic then. He tried to thrash wildly against Sai but to no avail. He couldn't move even an inch away from the man. "S-Sasuke!" he hollered. "D-Don't just stand there!" His eyes began to water when he felt Sai's lips on his skin and the terror intensified. Naruto's emotional output had Sasuke trembling. The situation was overwhelming for him and he began to pant heavily. "S-S-Sasuke!" Naruto cried out desperately. He let out a sharp cry of pain when Sai finally plunged his teeth harshly into his neck. After a moment, Sai bit down even more firmly just for fun, causing Naruto to release a loud sob.

And then Sasuke snapped. He was unaware of what he was doing really, for he hadn't commanded his body to move at all. Some basic part of his being made him move though. The smell of Naruto's skin being broken, the imagery of his blood on Sai's lips, it was maddening to Sasuke in so many different ways. By the good grace of god, though, Sasuke chose Naruto's well-being over both drugs and blood. The part of him that still felt connected to Naruto, the part that was still sane, acted out.

He timed the moment perfectly. When Sai finally retracted his teeth in order to suck out the blood, he removed his lips from the skin for just a fraction of a second, and that was all that Sasuke had needed. He appeared before Naruto, gathered both of Sai's wrists in one of his hand, placed his other hand on Sai's forehead, and then slammed his head back into the wall. And he did it all in one fluid movement. There was a split second where Sai tried to counter, but Sasuke was too quick and Sai was caught off guard. With Naruto still sandwiched between them, Sasuke heedlessly bit into Sai's throat. He pushed his body against Naruto's heavily in order to pin Sai where stood against the wall. Sai hissed vehemently and desperately tried to release his hands from Sasuke's grip while bucking violently to get the men off of him. Sasuke only pressed into Naruto more firmly, refusing to let Sai move even an inch.

Naruto tried to reach up and cover his wound, but Sasuke was in the way. He began to feel extremely woozy, and he knew that he needed anti-venom right away. He couldn't move though.

"S-Sas'ke," he slurred as his eyes began to droop.

Sasuke paid Naruto absolutely no mind at all. Naruto's head started to feel very heavy, but he wasn't too out of it to recognize when Sai began to grow weak. It suddenly occurred to him that Sai was  _dying_. Sasuke was  _killing_  him.

"S-Stop," Naruto muttered. "Sas'ke, stop."

When Sai stopped moving altogether, Naruto's eyes began to water. The man was an asshole and a nightwalker and just plain awful... but Sasuke... Sasuke didn't have to  _kill_  him. Naruto didn't want to believe that  _his_  Sasuke had killed a man so easily. He wanted Sasuke to stop, to return to himself, but he didn't. He continued to suck at Sai's neck, extracting every drop of blood that he could get. That scared Naruto, as he was bleeding openly and Sasuke was completely out of it. He remembered Itachi's warnings, and he knew that he wasn't safe. That fact hurt him deeply, but it was true. Sasuke would probably kill him too as soon he was done with Sai.

The tears that were welling in his eyes fell. He couldn't even hold his head up anymore, so it thudded down onto Sasuke's shoulder. His arms were completely useless at his side. His eyes were closing. He was so weak, so close to blacking out. Somehow, though, he managed to mutter Itachi's name.  _Somehow_. _  
_

A few long moments later, Naruto heard Sasuke hiss viciously as his body was moved off of Naruto's. Unable to support himself at all, Naruto began to fall forward. He was thankful, _so thankful,_  that someone caught him. "S'ke," he murmured weakly, but it was lost beneath more violent hissing. Then, he felt a sharp pain in his neck that caused him to whimper. Almost instantly, he started to feel better, and he knew that it'd been anti-venom. He listened, waiting for someone to speak and clue him in on what was happening now, but the room went eerily silent.

"Are you okay?" he heard Deidara's soft voice ask after a moment. He felt a hand smoothing over his forehead into his hair.

"Y-Yeah," he replied, finding it gradually becoming easier to speak.

"Here," he heard Deidara say as something gently prodded at his lips. "Eat this."

He opened his mouth obligingly and accepted the chocolate. He chewed on it weakly and peeked open his eyes. Deidara's face slowly came into focus. He tried to smile, and he figured that it must have been alright because Deidara smiled back.

"Do you think it's alright if I move you?" Deidara asked.

Naruto nodded, so Deidara guided his arms to his neck. "Hold on tightly," he said, scooping Naruto up bridal-style. Naruto did as he was told, and feeling his arms actually react to his commands gave him relief. He could feel strength returning to his muscles steadily.

Deidara began to move, but not as quickly as Naruto had come to be used to. He suspected that Deidara was only trying to be considerate by not going too fast. "I should take you home," Deidara said softly.

"N-No," Naruto began to protest.

"I know," Deidara assured before Naruto could say anything more. "You wanna see Sasuke." He paused. "I shouldn't," he said, "but Itachi needs me." They came to stop and Naruto removed his head from where it rested in the crook of Deidara's neck to see the front of Sasuke's door. Deidara lowered Naruto down gently onto his feet but kept an arm around his waist for support. He took a slow breath. "Brace yourself," he warned before the door swung open.

"What were you thinking?!" Itachi shouted at Naruto, grabbing him by the shirt and yanking him away from Deidara.

"Ita!" Deidara exclaimed immediately. The rest was said through a simple gaze. Itachi stared back at Deidara furiously for a moment before letting Naruto go.

Naruto's strength had returned to the point of being able to at least keep from collapsing, but he was still grateful when Deidara grabbed him by the elbow for extra support. Gently, Deidara guided him into the apartment past Itachi's reprimanding glare. All was silent in the room, and that confused Naruto greatly. Once inside, he began to ask, "Where's—"

"In the bathroom," Itachi interjected, his gaze hardening significantly, "mutilating himself."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Wh-What?" he asked.

Just then, they heard the soft click of the bathroom door handle being twisted. Everyone turned expectantly toward the sound. Itachi, thinking it best to trap Sasuke in the apartment, closed the front door and locked it. At least Sasuke having to unlock it would give him an extra moment to interfere if Sasuke should try to leave, as he was in a completely crazed state for what Itachi could tell. Maybe he was even so out of his mind that he'd forgotten what locks were, let alone how to undo them.

Slowly, the bathroom door opened and Sasuke emerged with blood dripping heavily down his forearm. Naruto's first instinct was to approach. Deidara's grip on his elbow wasn't budging though, so he simply stumbled where he stood. Sasuke refused to meet anyone's eyes or move any further than the doorway of the bathroom. He didn't know  _why_  he came out. It was just... Naruto. His presence... it called to Sasuke.

"S-Sasuke?" Naruto murmured, his voice trembling at the sight of him.

His shirt was cut through in various places, causing blood-soaked strips of fabric to hang off of it randomly. There were deep gauges along the side of his neck and down his left forearm, all dripping blood. In short, he looked gruesome. As Naruto called out to him softly, Sasuke twitched and turned his face away.

"Is he... feral?" Deidara asked uncertainly, his grip tightening on Naruto's arm.

He'd tried to read Sasuke upon approaching, but Sasuke was sealed off expertly. Deidara could only tell how dire the situation was because he could feel Itachi fretting frantically. He hadn't the time to take Naruto home. The need to be near his mate at such a moment was too powerful. Sasuke wasn't letting a single emotion slip through his defense though. Deidara had no idea what he was feeling. It was just wishful thinking that Itachi would be able to figure out.

"I don't know anymore," Itachi replied. He took a step toward Sasuke, which earned him a hiss. It was quiet but telling, at least to Itachi. "He's not feral," Itachi supplied confidently. "He's Sasuke, but there's something off about him still. I don't know what it is though."

Slowly, Naruto began to understand the situation. Sasuke wasn't feral because he'd just drained Sai dry, so his bloodlust would be at bay for the time being. As for the fact that his behavior was still so strange, as if he  _was_  feral... well... that could only be attributed to one thing.

"Drugs," Naruto said quietly. Everyone, including Sasuke, turned to look at him. He averted his eyes from them all. "He's on drugs."

Itachi turned back to regard his brother. His jaw clenched tensely. "Sasuke... Drugs...?"

"Fuck off," Sasuke interjected. "I'm already coming down."

Itachi began to breathe a bit more heavily as the weight of his emotions crushed down on his chest. "What's become of you?" he asked softly, tears welling in his eyes. "Why... Why are you... doing this?" He paused for an answer, but Sasuke simply turned his face away again. Itachi's chest constricted. He could understand what Sasuke was seeking, and so he felt empathy for his brother. "There was a time when I too—" he began.

"Don't talk to me like you understand," Sasuke interjected. His voice was soft, but the words were harsh. They cut through Itachi's like a hot knife through butter. He remained frozen to the spot, his head resolutely turned away, but his chest began to move more rapidly as he began to breathe slightly heavier. Containing his emotions was becoming a task the more the drugs twisted his mind.

"You have no right to talk to me at all," he went on. Itachi's expression grew more concerned, but he didn't have the chance to speak before Sasuke continued. "I've been fine on my own without you, Itachi, for years. I am fine." He ground his teeth together and clenched his fists tightly. "So just leave," he demanded, pointing a shaky finger at the doorway. "All of you," he added. "Leave."

For a few moments, Itachi was silent. He spent a few seconds simply sorting out his feelings. "No," he eventually said softly, earning himself the attention of Sasuke's eyes once more.

"You don't understand," Sasuke growled.

"So explain it to me," Itachi offered.

"I don't..." Sasuke trailed off and swallowed thickly. He turned his back and leaned heavily against the wall, staining it with blood. "I don't  _want_  to," he said quietly. Now that he'd turned away from the judgement that would manifest in those eyes, his anger was fading into something more dangerous. He began to feel deeper, darker emotions struggle to take a hold of him. They were almost impossible to restrain. "I want to... suffer," he added hesitantly.

"Why?" Itachi asked softly, keeping his voice gentle and quiet. He didn't want to shatter this vulnerable moment of Sasuke's by acting too harshly.

Sasuke paused for a moment before decidedly going on. "Because this is all I deserve," he finally said, his voice soft and bleak. He leaned off of the wall and gently touched his wounded arm. "Because I don't deserve help," he went on. "I don't deserve to be looked upon kindly, not after the things that I've done. I... I hate myself, Itachi..." he nearly whispered, "and I want to suffer for my sins." He paused and swallowed the lump in his throat. "Can't you all just let me do that and leave me be?"

"How could we?" Itachi replied, moving toward Sasuke. Sasuke didn't react violently, so he continued to advance slowly. "We're here to help you."

Something about the soft quality of his voice was niggling at the back of Sasuke's brain. He couldn't accept it. He didn't  _want_  it. It made him angry, but he welcomed the anger. He preferred it to misery.

"I don't need your help," Sasuke ground out, clutching to his anger like a lifeline.

"Sasuke—" Itachi began gently.

"I don't need your help!" Sasuke shouted suddenly, whipping around in fury and causing everyone to startle. "I needed your help  _years_  ago! Now you're too late!" he snapped.

Itachi staggered back a step from shock. Taken aback, his eyes widened. For a long moment, he was completely dumbstruck. When Deidara, having left Naruto to support himself, approached and gently touched his back, though, Itachi was able to recover. "Sasuke... I... I'm sorry," he said softly.

Sasuke barked with manic laughter. "Sorry?!" he repeated. "It's too late for sorry!"

His head pulsed.

He advanced and grabbed Itachi by the shirt, shaking him in fury. "Sorry won't change anything!"

Another pulse and a flash of a memory he had suppressed.

"Sorry won't bring her back! Sorry won't save our sister! Sorry won't forgive me for my sins!" he shouted.

Images of Ren's lifeless body plagued him.

"Sorry doesn't change a goddamn thing, Itachi! NOT A FUCKING THING!" he screamed, rattling Itachi frantically.

Itachi didn't even try to stop his tears from falling. "I know," he croaked out, "but I  _am_  sorry. I... I don't know what else to do, Sasuke," he said, grabbing the other's wrists to stop from being thrown around like a rag doll.

"FUCK YOU!" Sasuke screamed as much as he sobbed, his chest heaving heavily.

Deidara tried to gently peel Sasuke's fingers from his mate before the situation got out of hand. Sasuke kept an anguished gaze on Itachi for a moment longer before turning on the blond and swiping at him furiously. Deidara managed to avoid getting scratched in the face, but he ended up with a deep mark across his chest instead. Sasuke was instantly thrown to the floor when Itachi's fist slammed across his face.

"Don't touch him!" Itachi boomed, throwing his arm across Deidara protectively. His voiced cracked from tears that were equally angry as they were guilty.

Without hesitation, Sasuke counterattacked. He jumped up and slammed Itachi against the wall across the apartment. He sank his teeth into Itachi's shoulder, intending to rip the skin out savagely, but he was forced to let go when Itachi's fist slammed into his gut. Itachi shoved him hard across the room and was about to jump atop of him when Deidara appeared before him and brought him to a halt. Deidara pulled Itachi into a tight hug, shushing him quietly. Instantly, Itachi was subdued. Sasuke, however, was another story. He, apparently, had no problem attacking the both of them ruthlessly, even in such a vulnerable position. And, had Naruto not stepped in, he probably would've caused them both irreparable damage too.

Bravely, though, Naruto placed himself between Sasuke and his goal. And, much to Naruto's relief, Sasuke came to a sudden stop. He stood huffing heavily only inches away from Naruto's face. It took Naruto a good few moments to get his breath back, and he was only able to manage a whisper when he did.

"Don't," he said quietly.

It was not a command. It was not a plea. It was but a tiny word with no conviction at all, but it didn't even matter. What got through to Sasuke's brain was not the word at all but, rather, the blue eyes sparkling before him. Slowly, Sasuke backed away from Naruto.

"Listen to your brother," Naruto said quietly.

"But... he... abandoned me," Sasuke replied just as quietly, his eyes almost vacant.

Naruto took a step forward but was stopped when Itachi grabbed his wrist. "Sasuke, no one here wants to hurt you," he assured softly. "Itachi, especially, wants to help." After a moment, he added, "I'm here." That only seemed to infuriate Sasuke though.

Sasuke snapped back to life. "I never wanted this," he said aggressively, his expression growing sour. "I never wanted  _you_! You just showed up out of nowhere and fucked my whole life up! I was  _fine_  before! I was  _happy_ with Sai! Because of  _you_ , I killed the only fucking person who understood me!" he hollered. "You fucked my whole life up, dobe! You ruined everything!"

Naruto's mouth was glued shut. He simply stared on in astonishment. Was that so? He swallowed thickly and released a shaky breath. No... Sasuke was just upset. He was... high... really high. He was just off his rocker. That was all. He didn't mean that... he didn't...

Or did he?

Truthfully, Naruto had been living in a fantasy, hadn't he? He'd fabricated Sasuke's feelings simply because his own were so inevitable. At most, Sasuke had expressed a mild interest. By no means at all should Naruto have been led to believe that Sasuke truly care for him... and... yet... he had. He'd believed it so pathetically wholeheartedly that he couldn't even find the strength to breathe under the weight of Sasuke's words. That was the truth... the cold, hard truth... the truth that Sasuke had never divulged. Naruto was just a burden.

"I love you," Naruto eventually breathed out.

Speaking the words was like an anvil to his chest, not at all as liberating as he'd imagined they would be. He'd finally embraced those words and these feelings. It'd blossomed from a seedling into a full-fledged emotion in his heart. It was love. It was passionate love. He needed Sasuke so completely that it was painful... but that would never happen. For a few moments, Naruto was speechless to his own confession. Everyone else fell completely silent too, all looking at the blond expectantly.

"—but..."

Tears welled up in his eyes, tears that burned his heart. He should have been used to this though. He was often abandoned. Sasuke was no different. He knew this feeling well. Still, it was hard to get the next words off of his tongue. It was hard to seal this encounter with such finality. After everything, could he walk away from Sasuke easily? But did he have a choice? It was all thrown into perspective for him. Sasuke had illuminated everything. This was never meant to be. It was a fool's wish. That was it.

"—b-but... I... I never wanna see you again," he finished, his voice breaking slightly.

Sasuke stared back at Naruto, his eyes wide. He seemed to finally realize what he'd said. He swiftly appeared before Naruto, cradling the blond's face in his hands. And, for once, he looked like Sasuke again. That only crushed Naruto even more.

"Naruto—" Sasuke began softly.

"Sasuke," Naruto interjected quickly, cutting Sasuke off before he could progress.

~xXxXxXx~

_"Sasu," Ren whispers pleadingly._

~xXxXxXx~

Sasuke closed his eyes and shook his head lightly, trying to dispel the image in his head. Naruto took that moment to step out of Sasuke's reach. Sasuke quickly grappled for him again, but Naruto stepped further away and shook his head solemnly.

~xXxXxXx~

_"Ren..." Sasuke whispers softly in response, his senses slowly coming back to him._

_Her voice finally did its work._ _He was tethered back to earth, but it was too late._

_"Ren!" he cries out, cradling her face in his hands._

_"Oh, God! Ren!" he sobs as he begins to hyperventilate._

~xXxXxXx~

When Sasuke's vision refocused again, it was on the back of Naruto's head as it walked out the door. And, suddenly, his legs couldn't handle his weight anymore. It was all that blood he'd lost. That's what he'd blame it on... but he wouldn't lie to himself. There was an ache in his chest, a hole in the shape of a certain man, a hole that sucked him of life itself. In the wake of Naruto's pain, Sasuke couldn't even barely  _breathe_... and it was all his fault.

Everything was always his fault.

_To be continued..._


	17. Lovelust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings:  
> —Brutal treatment. It's not awful, but it's there.  
> —There is yaoi buttsex right off the bat, first scene and everything.

"Let go," Naruto demanded softly.

The man currently attached to his neck did as instructed and peeked up at Naruto expectantly.

Naruto smirked. "Yeah, yeah. Roll over then," he commanded.

Without hesitation, the man did as instructed and positioned himself on all fours. He looked back at Naruto over his shoulder, compelled to maintain eye contact with the blond. Even if Naruto wasn't looking at him, he still felt the urge to be gazing at the other. It was really beyond desire though. It was an intense, burning need.

Naruto placed his hard length in between the man's cheeks, watching himself as opposed to returning the other's intent gaze. There was no need to stare. His hold on this guy was solid, as it always was now that he was so practiced at this sort of thing. He probed experimentally at the guy's entrance. That, however, caused the man to stir a bit, a tiny hiss escaping from his throat. It was neither vicious nor threatening. It was more like a vampire's interpretation of a mewl, actually. Nonetheless, it was unwelcome.

Naruto snapped his eyes up, quieting the man instantly with a deep gaze. It was unnecessary, for his eyes had done all the work, but he verbally commanded the man to be quiet anyway. Y'know, just for good measure. Or maybe he just liked asserting his dominance. In any case, noises like that were utterly unacceptable and would not be tolerated unless requested.

The man nodded his head once in understanding, allowing Naruto to return to entering him slowly. Naruto pushed himself in at an agonizingly slow pace, causing the vampire before him to squirm. Still, the vamp never took his eyes off Naruto's form. He stopped a barrage of hisses in his throat because Naruto had commanded him to stay silent. He couldn't help but to pant when Naruto was finally in to the hilt though. Much to his delight, Naruto didn't shut him up this time. He took that as a green light to at least breathe.

Naruto groaned as he started to move slowly, pushing down on the man's lower back with nearly all his weight. The man had to catch more hisses in his throat, absolutely detesting the discomfort that Naruto was putting him through. There had been no preparation, save for a few rough fingers on Naruto's end. Thus, although Naruto moved slowly, the experience was painful and discomforting. Luckily, though, the pain was far second to the discomfort, so at least the guy wasn't writhing in agony. It wasn't all painfully uncomfortable though. There was a slight tinge of pleasure in there already too. The vampire stayed quiet, only allowing himself to release heavy breaths, quiet things that wouldn't bother Naruto.

Naruto picked up the pace, grunting as he began to push himself into the other with more force. The man gripped the sheets tightly in return, unable to stop a hiss as Naruto became more brutal. That earned him a hand wrapping tightly around his throat. Naruto's eyes were boring into his harshly as he grimaced under the strain of Naruto's weight on his neck. It was lucky for him that vampires didn't  _need_  to breathe as much as humans. He could survive this treatment for about ten minutes. After that, though, he would begin to blackout. That didn't mean that it wasn't still entirely uncomfortable to have his windpipe crushed though. His eyes grew pleading, but there would be no mercy for him.

"I said, be quiet," Naruto growled, pounding into the guy with renewed force.

The blond's unforgiving eyes stayed trained on the vampire's face for a few moments until he finally tilted his head back, reveling in the pleasure. The other felt relieved now that Naruto wasn't looking at him so menacingly anymore. He could at least begin to try to enjoy the experience now. The hand around his neck did not relent, and so it was a task to focus on the pleasure as opposed to the pain and general discomfort of the situation. There was a piece of him at the back of his brain telling him that just being with Naruto alone was pleasure enough, making it impossible for him to get upset enough to fight back. He was under a choke-hold, figuratively  _and_  literally.

After a few seconds, the pleasure did catch up with him. "N-Naruto," he groaned.

Naruto grimaced. "Don't say my name," he commanded.

"S-Sorry..."

"Shut up and just moan."

The vampire did as told, groaning louder by the second. Most of it was theatrics just to appease Naruto, but that didn't mean that it didn't feel good. For the most part, it felt great. He knew somewhere in the back of his mind that Naruto would never let him find ecstasy though. He wouldn't be given a release unless he could facilitate it himself. That thought in mind, he reached a hand down to stroke himself too, making his groans gain in sincerity. Naruto didn't protest. He could tell when they faked. If it made him sound more genuine, then Naruto wouldn't complain. All he was concerned about was himself, and he liked to hear them moaning. It helped him finish.

As he neared his climax, he began to slam into the man even more forcefully. The vampire was nearing his limit for breath, though, and he began to wheeze slightly, his lids growing heavy. Naruto sadistically savored the sound and crushed the guy's windpipe more tightly in his hand. The vampire wheezed loudly, one hand loosely gripping Naruto's wrist. The latter cracked his eyes open to see the vamp's fangs bared for a fight that he wouldn't even dare to initiate. His face was scrunched up in pain and his cheeks streaked with tears. Naruto just pushed down on the guy's lower back with more force, causing the vampire to release a strangled cry from the sharp sting of pain. That brought Naruto right to the edge.

He released the man's neck, who promptly began to whimper in relief. He kept his hazy eyes trained on Naruto as the blond released himself with a few satisfied grunts and groans. When Naruto pulled out, though, he decided that he wasn't quite satiated yet. He scooted back on the bed and rested against the headboard, watching the man before him trembling as he struggled to not simply collapse completely.

Naruto grinned devilishly. "I'm not satisfied," he declared.

The vampire weakly crawled over to Naruto and settled down in between his legs. He took the partially flaccid length in his hand, the other running carefully up the blond's thigh, and looked up to Naruto uncertainly. Naruto simply stared at him as the vampire tried and failed repeatedly to retract his fangs. He began to breathe more heavily, afraid of what Naruto's reaction would be if he couldn't get himself in check.

Naruto rolled his eyes and pushed his hands through the other's hair, coming to a stop at the back of his scalp and yanking backward to force his head up. "Just suck it," he commanded before loosening his hold to give back some of the guy's freedom.

The man did as told, gingerly taking Naruto's length in his mouth and sucking warily. His fangs scraped lightly against the flesh, causing Naruto to gasp unabashedly. He wasn't exactly accustomed to the feeling. He'd never had one suck him off after they'd become unable to retract their fangs—and, yes, there always came a point in every one of these encounters when they couldn't retract them. Every vampire, Naruto had learned, became this way when you tired them out enough. It was an instinctive defense, meaning that they were in survival mode. None of them would dare touch him maliciously though, not unless instructed to do so.

He found, however, that he didn't mind the sensation of the fangs against his sensitive length. The man was careful to be extremely gentle, and Naruto was enjoying it. He released the guy's hair and leaned his head back against the headboard. It wouldn't kill him to be gentle for once too, he decided. He would let the man be and do what he wished without any overzealous guidance.

Wishing to please him, the vampire continued to suck Naruto's member tenderly. He swirled his tongue all around it, making sure that his teeth only offered the lightest of scrapes. He paid extra attention to the head every time he bobbed up to it. He went slow and steady, building Naruto up gently. After a few long minutes of this treatment, Naruto was panting heavily. With a few more skillful licks and sucks, Naruto was thrown over the edge. He released himself in the other's mouth with a drawn out moan, bucking his hips with every spurt. The vampire didn't back off at all. He swallowed Naruto's seed dutifully, continuing to suck until Naruto was completely dried up and flaccid. When he finally released Naruto and sat back on his heels, he became painfully aware of how hard he himself was. Naruto regarded him for a long moment, shamelessly taking in his frustrated state.

"You're still hard," he pointed out.

The man nodded. "I am," he said softly.

"Should I help you with that?" Naruto offered. The man's face lit up completely, but Naruto only snorted derisively at him. "Yeah right." He pushed the vampire aside and stood from the bed. As he dressed himself, he spewed out instructions. "Do not stalk me. Do not contact me. Only come if I call your name." He paused before adding stiffly, "Otherwise, don't respond to our bond at all."

"But will I see you again?" the other asked earnestly, causing Naruto to pause at the door.

He glanced over his shoulder. The man was attractive enough and he'd given Naruto what he wanted. He was a good specimen. "You're mine now," he replied. "You have no choice."

**~ ( >^.^)> <(^.^<) ~**

Naruto was about to unlock and enter his apartment, but he paused at the last moment. Keys dangling at the ready, he pressed his ear to the door and listened intently. He could sense Kiba on the other side, fretting. If he listened close enough, he could slightly hear the shuffle of feet as Kiba paced too. A grumble of a curse was thrown into the mix every few shambles. Naruto groaned softly in dismay, turning and pressing his forehead against the door. He absolutely did not want to face Kiba, especially since he had no idea how long Kiba had been fuming and just waiting to lay into him.

Kiba was always giving Naruto that look that said "you just wait til I get your ass cornered", but talking just wasn't Naruto's thing as of late, at all, ever, about anything. Silence had become his friend, so of course he'd been avoiding Kiba. No avoiding it now though. His hand dropped to his side in dread, inadvertently jingling the keys in his hand. He realized his mistake only after making it. Suddenly, the scuffle of pacing turned into the soft stomp of a march that grew steadily louder until it reached the door in just a few short paces. Naruto had already braced himself with both hands against either side of the door frame, so he wasn't disturbed when Kiba wrenched open the door.

"We're talking," Kiba informed firmly.

Naruto released a heavy sigh, as if weary beyond belief. He heaved his body into motion, lumbering past Kiba like a child forced to do his most-detested chore. He was just about to protest, his tone at the ready with an exaggeration of his exhaustion—a ploy, of course, to get Kiba off his back. Kiba wasn't going to stand for being evaded any longer though. Oh. Hell. No.

"This is the third time this week," Kiba pointed out before Naruto had a chance to say anything. He closed the door behind himself with force, enough to express his displeasure but not quite a slam. "Naruto, this  _week_ ," he repeated emphatically as he stepped down from the slightly elevated entrance landing. " _Week_ ," Kiba stressed once more.

"I get it," Naruto groaned, stopping his advancement into the apartment and turning to face Kiba and lean against one side of the frame for the open doorway into his room. He crossed his arms across his chest, a telling sign of immediate defense.

He'd suspected that his activities as of late were what Kiba would address, but he hadn't been positive. He thought he might have been being sneaky enough that Kiba didn't even know. That, obviously, wasn't the case though. Nonetheless, he couldn't see why Kiba was making it a concern in the first place.

He added in a grumble, "Dunno why you're in such a tiff about it anyway."

Kiba balked at that. "I'm worried about you considering yourself a bijuu before, y'know, Naruto,  _your own self_."

"You think I'm losing sense of my own self?" Naruto asked, looking at Kiba with a bored expression. As if to say, 'Really? This is what you're keeping me up for?'

"Have you  _seen_  yourself lately?" Kiba asked rhetorically. "I don't even wanna know how many of those marks—" Kiba gestured to the fresh bite partially visible on Naruto's neck. "—you have hidden all over your body."

"And it's none of your business," Naruto added.

"None of my business?" Kiba repeated. Naruto could feel the crackling in the atmosphere before Kiba even opened his mouth to respond. "Well,  _you_  sure didn't mind getting involved in  _my_  business with Gaara. That had precisely nothing to do with you, yet you stuck your nose in every crevice possible."

"And for the better," Naruto pointed out. "I got you two back together, didn't I?"

Kiba just stared at Naruto for a long moment, his face utterly unreadable. That was unlike Kiba. He was usually very expressive, even overly so. That intrigued Naruto enough to urge him to try deciphering what lay just beyond that uncharacteristically schooled visage. Kiba recognized that concentration on Naruto's face though, so he quickly diverted the attention back on to Naruto, doing it in a way that didn't so blatantly change direction that it'd alert Naruto to his covert shenanigans.

"You don't even know what you're doing," Kiba said evenly. He gestured to Naruto in general, adding, "—with any of this. You hardly know how to work your own abilities. Hell, you hardly even know what you are to begin with. You're floundering, Naruto."

Naruto's brow twitched with irritation. "Kankuro explained things to me well enough."

In fact, Kankuro had given a long, long,  _long_ speech about what Naruto was and how that would affect him from here on out.

"You obviously didn't listen," Kiba countered.

"I've got special blood. Vamps think it's extra tasty. I can control em," Naruto recounted, rolling his eyes. "Simple."

"No," Kiba disagreed. "Not simple, Naruto. Like I said, you don't understand at all."

"Then why don't you explain it to me," Naruto challenged.

Kiba could tell by the tone in Naruto's voice and its sarcastic edge that the blond wasn't really inviting Kiba to make an in-depth lesson of this conversation. Still, Naruto truly was lacking understanding, so Kiba chose to take the challenge literally.

"Your blood deformation isn't simply special," Kiba began.

Naruto groaned intolerantly. "Kiba, I don't really wanna hear it."

"It's life-changing," Kiba went on, ignoring Naruto's complaints.

Naruto pushed away from the door frame and turned his back to enter his bedroom.

Kiba moved to follow, explaining all the while, "Type X isn't just a simple change in blood type. It's what makes you a bijuu. It makes you more than human."

When Kiba entered the bedroom, Naruto was picking up a pair of sleeping pants from the floor. Realizing what Naruto was about to do, Kiba sprang forward and snatched the blond's wrist as the man turned toward the bathroom. He yanked to force Naruto to turn back and face him.

"Listen to me!" Kiba demanded. "This is important, Naruto."

Naruto narrowed his eyes but said nothing and made no move to try escaping.

"Your scent is extremely potent, and you know it's at least 10 times worse when your blood is spilled," Kiba went on. "As if that's not enough, you're even more attractive being the kyuubi. Off all the 10 bijuu, you're the one associated with the fox. You're literally supposed to be the depiction of seduction. The kyuubi in you is tempting enough as you are, but the kyuubi is supposed to be cunning and witty too. So I'm confused about why you keep letting these vampires puncture your skin. I mean, are you _trying_ to make yourself a vampire magnet?"

"You're forgetting who has the real power between vampires and me," Naruto pointed out.

"Don't be so smug!" Kiba snapped, though his eyes took on less of an irritated gleam and slipped into the realm of worry. For a moment, he studied his friend. Then, he sighed, shaking his head and turning his eyes away. "It's happening to you," he murmured. "Just like I said. You're more of a bijuu than you are yourself."

"What does that even mean?" Naruto demanded and snatched his wrist from Kiba's loosened grip. He didn't understand, but he felt insulted nonetheless.

"It means you're letting the hunger take over your mind," Kiba informed. His eyes drifted back to Naruto's. "It really is amazing, Naruto, being a bijuu. Being the kyuubi has to be twice as fun too. Your blood is pretty magical. Hell,  _you're_ magical. It's no wonder they come flocking to you. You could, and probably do, have any vampire you choose under your spell. But what'll you do when you meet someone who's actually a danger to you?"

Unable to answer, Naruto simply said bitterly, " _All_  vampires are dangerous. I'll have the experience."

"Really, Naruto? You're gonna tell me that all your pets didn't come to you willingly? They put up a big fight?" Kiba leveled Naruto with an intolerant stare, and Naruto could only look away. "Exactly. They're attracted to you because they wanna feed off you. They just want your blood. They just wanna be bonded to you, and you let them. But you and I both know there are vampires out there dedicated to killing bijuu for whatever reasons. If you let yourself think you're invincible, then you're making it way too easy for them to get to you."

Once Kiba's point had been absorbed, Naruto lifted his eyes and said surely, "Doesn't matter what the intent is. Any vampire is powerless to me."

Kiba huffed in exasperation. "And what if they don't even bite you, Naruto?"

"No vampire could fight the temptation," Naruto said without hesitation. "Kankuro said that."

"No," Kiba devoutly disagreed. "Kankuro said that vampires would be extremely tempted by you and it would take a lot of will to not let the bloodlust get to their head. And he only said that to explain why vampires would be so drawn to you, not why you should consider yourself invulnerable. Not even Kankuro knows all the vampires in the world, Naruto. There are bound to be some out there skilled enough to resist even you and your magical blood."

But let's just say that no vampire ever could resist you," Kiba mused. "Who's to say they couldn't control their own venom? I know for a fact that there must be tons of vampires out there who can, at the very least, keep themselves from infecting you with their venom. Your blood might be amazing, but you need an exchange to have any control. You need their venom as much as you need them to have your blood. No venom, no bond. No bond, no control. Then what?" Kiba paused before repeating almost menacingly, "Then what, Naruto?"

"Okay," Naruto grumbled in begrudging defeat.

"And even if you do make an exchange," Kiba went on, undeterred, "there's no guarantee the bond will mean anything. Did you know that? Bonds don't always work."

Kiba paused, waiting for Naruto to admit his ignorance.

Naruto would do no such thing though. He just narrowed his eyes into a glare.

"I'll take that as a no," Kiba decided. "Bonding is something that vampires have done since the beginning. The bond between mates is strong enough to defy even a bijuu. Yeah, any vampire who makes an exchange with you will technically be bonded to you, but your will isn't the only will that matters. A vampire with a strong enough bond can ignore you. You can try your damnedest to make em do what you want, but they don't have to. Bijuu learned to bond from vampires, and they did it to fabricate ties of loyalty. Do you really think something so fake could trump pure, honest love?"

" _Okay_ ," Naruto growled, his eyes straying away again. "I get it."

"Do you?" Kiba asked, unconvinced. "Really, Naruto? Do you?"

Another silence passed between them, in which Kiba noted how deeply agitated Naruto had become. He wanted to make his point, but he didn't want to take away all of Naruto's glory.

"I have seen you using your abilities more easily as of late," Kiba pointed out, gingerly nudging Naruto toward more positive territory.

Naruto just shrugged.

"Did you hear me at the door?" Kiba asked. "That why you paused?"

Naruto nodded silently.

"So your hearing is getting better then," Kiba pointed out.

"Yeah," Naruto confirmed. "My sight too. But it's too slow."

"Oh, be patient," Kiba said, his attitude lightening. "You didn't even know you could use these abilities until recently. Better to have them come to you slowly than to bombard you at once and cripple you. Wouldn't you rather train your body to slowly acclimate?"

"Vampires don't have to train," Naruto pointed out sardonically.

"Not true," Kiba immediately disagreed. "In fact, it might be worse for them. Their senses are too much when they're young. It takes alotta practice for them to hone em. Picking and choosing when to use their abilities is a skill they learn as they grow. Until they can temper themselves, they just sorta function outta whack. It's kinda funny, to watch one of their senses suddenly flare up without warning as they fumble around trying to make sense of it." He chuckled lightly, even getting Naruto to raise his eyes and smirk. "Then again, it can also be really miserable for them too. But at least you don't have to deal with that. It doesn't come on so abruptly for bijuu, but it _is_ all in there. Just keep being patient."

Naruto nodded. "I guess you're right," he conceded.

"Vampires are no more perfect than you," Kiba reassured. "I didn't mean to make you out to sound like a lamb for the slaughter," he added apologetically. "Even though your life _is_ in constant danger, I know you can protect yourself. I do have faith in you."

Naruto watched Kiba closely for a moment before saying evenly, "Do you? Because all you've done lately is disapprove."

Kiba shrugged innocently. "Can I be blamed? I mean, you've sorta been giving yourself away too easily." He paused, choosing his words with care. "I know what you're doing with them. I could understand if the reasoning was tactical like decommissioning as many as possible to save the streets of the city some grief, or even something as absurd as building a vampire army, but you're not. You're just making bonds for nothing, for distraction, for play. There's a name vampires use for that, Naruto. It's called lovelust, and it's not as sweet as it sounds. It's what vampires use to describe bijuu they consider, more or less, whores." Kiba's word choice had, obviously, been poor because Naruto was quickly offended. "I'm not calling you a whore!" Kiba exclaimed quickly.

"I'll sleep with who I want," Naruto snapped indignantly.

"Like I said, I'm not calling you a whore," Kiba replied. "I'm just saying you're only adding to the stigma, and you're sorta becoming less of the person you used to be too. And I know you're not making innocent bonds. I know you've been taking them to bed too." Kiba could see his words getting more and more offensive to Naruto, so he chose to simply end with, "I'm not discriminating against who you choose to sleep with. I just can't agree with you visiting so many beds."

"Good thing you don't have to," Naruto said sharply, eyes glaring. "Because it's  _my_  body."

Kiba had no counter for that. He just held Naruto's challenging gaze. How base of Naruto to stoop to such a display of dominance. Staring contests were so... brutish. But Kiba was participating, wasn't he? He was staring back, waiting for Naruto's will to be the one to break. Naruto had only been getting more calloused as the days passed by though, so he wouldn't break. He'd stare Kiba down until the brunet submitted, and it was stupid to fight this way. Kiba didn't want to compare egos at this point. He was coming from a place of true concern, but all Naruto saw was the challenge. In the end, all Kiba could do was break the gaze.

Ever since Kankuro had told Naruto the truth about what kind of being Naruto actually was, Naruto had been acting more fragile than an already fractured egg. Then again, Kankuro's choice of timing had been poor too. It probably wasn't the best time to lay something so heavy on Naruto only days after his falling out with Sasuke. It'd been weeks now since Naruto had learned the term that changed his life, and all he'd done since then was get worse on every frontier. But his world had shifted entirely. So could Naruto really be blamed for acting this way? He was just trying to adjust, and he was failing miserably.

The term was bijuu. Kiba only knew so much about it himself because he'd had to learn vampire history along with his brothers, since he'd been married into a vampire family. The legend of the bijuu was well-known among the vampire community no matter where one went. It was common knowledge among all. It was a lore that dated all the way back to the very first vampires. In short, the bijuu were created to rival the vampires.

Just like the vampires, the bijuu were nearly immortal. They could be killed, but they would not perish easily on their own. So long as they kept their bodies nourished, they could survive for eternity. Both vampires and bijuu could live extensively longer by just sustaining themselves with a substitute for food and water. For vampires, this substitute was blood. For bijuu, the substitute was chakra, the spirit or soul, lifesource, energy. So long as the substitute was consumed steadily by the creature, both bijuu and vampire could survive for extended periods of time. There came a point, though, when both would deplete the nourishment faster than the substitute could provide it. Thus, the substitute could only sustain them for so long.

Each bijuu had sensing abilities just as sharp as the vampires. The basic senses were on par, but the way bijuu processed emotion differed from the vampires. While the vampires notoriously only practiced empathy among those they bonded to very closely, the bijuu were highly empathetic things. This was what kept them pure and ensured that they would not kill without due cause. Bijuu felt the emotion of other beings naturally. Vampires, however, had to first become close to the being before they transcended a simple recognition of what that being was feeling. Each could, essentially, shut the mechanism of empathy off, but bijuu were inclined to utilize it naturally while it was a more uncommon thing among the vampires.

Despite the many similarities, the bijuu also had abilities to rival their adversaries. While vampires had exceptional speed, the bijuu had a third eye that allowed them to see beyond the physical world. The bijuu were able to remain in the physical world while projecting themselves into the spirit realm too. They could then communicate with each other via the spirit realm, a place which souls could not typically reach unless they were to pass eternally. The third eye also allowed the bijuu to see whatever wavered in the "in between". In this space, the past, present, and future were created. Thus, the bijuu could recall the past at their whim and see into the future at their need. This allowed them to act on par with their vampire counterparts. Exceptional speed meant nothing if your foe could predict your every move.

History played out as expected. Bijuu and vampires alike were killed. The vampires began to reproduce and infect humans in order to make up for their losses. The bijuu were simply reborn. Each of the 10 bijuu had defining qualities of character about it, including tactics it would use to subdue its prey. These traits were carried on as a bijuu spirit passed into another body. However, the body would initially be weak, as a children tend to be. So the abilities would have to grow at a rate that the body could handle. This left the bijuu vulnerable until about their late teens. By then, they'd at least evolve beyond being sitting ducks. Their mid-20s was about when they'd reach their peak. And once peaked, neither bijuu nor vampire would age any further.

Bijuu in modern times had come to exist at varying ages and levels of expertise. Some bijuu never reached full power before dying. Others lived for centuries. It wasn't the lifespan of the bijuu that concerned Kiba though. It was the power. Or, rather, where they were lacking in power, their weakness. Even immortal beings have faults. Uncannily like their vampire counterparts, bijuu struggled with their own lust. Vampires were slaves to their thirst, and bijuu were really just the same in a way. A vampire's poison was blood, and a bijuu's poison was bonding.

Bonding was something that vampires had done since the very beginning. The first 5 pairs were bound to each other as couples, and they were bound as a coven as well. One might even say they were likely to be bonded to whoever caused them to be. Bonding has always been an important part of establishing relationships and hierarchy among vampire communities. For bijuu, being able to force bonds upon any vampire that exchanged blood and venom with it was a weapon of peace. Any vampire loyal to the bijuu would devoutly not do whatever the bijuu told them to not do. It was as simple as that. With such unwavering loyalty, a bijuu could easily change the nature of a vampire. No killing necessary. That was the tactical use for the ability, but the bijuu developed a personal use for it too.

The bijuu couldn't reproduce the way that vampires could. They weren't created in pairs, so they didn't have their own concept of what the vampires considered a mate. But it became obvious that the mate was the sole creature that a vampire would answer to, the one being that they would express what bijuu saw to be the truest depiction of love to. The bijuu were jealous of this. Yes, they could fall in love with and marry and have children with each other and any human, but it simply was not the same. The vampires had something special in bonding, and the bijuu wanted that too. Their jealousy fueled their lust for love. Hence the term lovelust. They thirsted for the devotion of a bonded creature, so lovelust became a common term for what motivated a bijuu who became addicted to bonding vampires to them. It was inevitable that one was not enough. The lust demanded more, and more, and more. Not only was it a product of jealousy, but the bijuu were simply bored.

Once the vampires had their own form of law enforcement, VSAF, the balance of the world became fairly level. So what was there left for a bijuu to do? With nothing to do but analyze the world around them, they couldn't help but find the beauty in the world of the vampires and their bonding abilities. Thus came their jealousy. But with no definite need to control the vampire population, the bijuu were left without a sense of purpose. Unavoidably, there began to open up an emptiness in their chests. This was when lovelust became a widely recognized thing. This emptiness, they knew from observation, could be filled by one thing: a mate. But bijuu weren't created that way. In the end, all they could do was replicate what they'd seen flowing so beautifully between their destined rivals. So they sought out vampires and reveled in the sense of love their loyalty could provide the bijuu with.

This was the sketchy territory that Naruto was bordering, if he hadn't already jumped headlong into it. Sasuke had made a mate of Naruto. With Sasuke there to fulfill that emptiness in his bijuu heart, Naruto had been complete. But Sasuke was no longer there feeding Naruto's needs. With no Sasuke to occupy his heart, Naruto instinctively sought the one thing his people had always known to cause a primal sense of ease: bonding. It didn't matter to Naruto who the vampire was. He simply enjoyed their faithfulness as much as they enjoyed sucking his blood. Plus, he'd let himself deteriorate into such a malnourished state that Naruto probably wouldn't be alive if he didn't have bonds to feed off of.

Kiba was resigned to defeat. He couldn't pretend he didn't understand, because he understood so deeply why Naruto was acting this way. It was his instinctual way of acting out against the emptiness Sasuke had instilled in his chest. All Kiba could do was walk away from the fight, so walk he did. He turned away from Naruto and left the bedroom.

With Kiba out of his line of sight, Naruto's face relaxed. He was glad to win the argument, but he wasn't really feeling triumphant at all. Something was off about Kiba, but it had nothing to do with the argument. Naruto could tell. He just could. And he was intrigued. So he tossed the pants he'd chosen onto his bed and went after Kiba. He emerged from his bedroom and lingered near the doorway, looking into the living room, which had become Kiba's living space since the brunet had been spending so much time at Naruto's place.

"Kiba..."

"What?" Kiba asked as he started rummaging through one of his bags of clothing, his back toward Naruto.

"Just now... were you thinking about Gaara?"

Kiba faltered in his movements but regained himself quickly and began rummaging through his clothes with more vigor. "No," he answered truthfully. "I was thinking about how sad your circumstances are."

Naruto's attitude took an aggressive turn for the worst, so Kiba opted to squash the competition before Naruto could even ignite it again. "I'm not trying to attack you or offend you, and I'm not trying to compare dick sizes to see who comes out on top either," he said candidly. "I'm not interested in who can stare who down more easily. I just want you to be okay, Naruto. So don't puff out your chest or put on your 'scary face', because I'm not intimidated and you aren't gonna convince me to back down that way."

"Well, it worked before, didn't it?" Naruto pointed out haughtily.

"This is all it comes to with you anymore Naruto," Kiba replied. "I swear, you're worse than living with a fucking bull on steroids."

"Then go home," Naruto suggested simply.

Kiba paused then. Naruto just barely heard his breath hitch before the brunet suddenly started undoing everything he'd just done. He started grabbing all the clothes he'd been pulling out of his suitcase and threw them back inside.

"Fine," he said, his voice tight, "if that's what you want."

He zipped the suitcase up furiously before grabbing an armful of clothes from another pile on the floor and shoving them in a laundry basket.

"I'll fucking leave."

Naruto was taken aback by the intensity with which Kiba replied. His voice was restrained, but nothing else about him was. His movements, his heart rate, his breathing, his energy. He was a total frantic mess. He was nearing one of the two extremes he tended to snap between at the drop of a dime lately, and Naruto had done that. He hadn't actually meant to upset Kiba.

"Kiba," Naruto sighed, walking into the living room. "Don't do that. You can stay. Don't overreact," he said, reaching down and gently grabbing Kiba's arm to stop his frenzied packing. To Naruto's surprise, Kiba snatched his arm out of Naruto's grip so forcefully that Naruto thought it a feat that the appendage didn't simply snap off Kiba's body too.

Kiba bolted upright and then turned and shoved Naruto hard in the chest, putting a couple feet of distance between them and leaving Naruto breathless. "Don't tell me I'm overreacting!" Kiba snapped. He balled his fists in an attempt to suppress his emotions more effectively. "I'm sick and tired of hearing that. I'm not a drama queen." He turned his eyes away and said softly, and yet so begrudgingly, "Maybe if you all weren't so fucking stupid that you always put yourself in terrible positions, I wouldn't react in such extremes. Is it so bad that I fucking love you?"

"This isn't just about me?" Naruto asked, beginning to catch on.

Kiba said nothing, just pushed his emotions back into the box they were leaking from.

"Tell me why you're here, Kiba," Naruto requested.

"It's obvious," Kiba claimed automatically. "I've told you already. I wanted to be there for you. I thought it'd be easiest if I lived in your living room."

Naruto shook his head solemnly, unconvinced. "I know that's a lie."

"How?" Kiba asked, eyeing Naruto carefully.

Naruto shrugged. "I just do. It's in my heart," he tried to explain. "When I really tune in to you, I can feel all sorts of wobbly things going on in your heart too. There's something really wrong with you, and I know it. You know you can't lie to me, so tell me the truth." Kiba's eyes wandered away again, and he just waited for Naruto to figure it out for himself. "Did you come to me because you had nowhere else to go?" Naruto eventually asked.

"No," Kiba refuted softly. He had other places that he could go. Then again, in a way, there was really nowhere else that he could be.

"There's something you're trying to escape," Naruto added, as if Kiba hadn't denied. "Are things with Gaara bad again?"

"You accusing him of something?" Kiba asked, his tone warning and his eyes alight with a fire, but Naruto could see that it was weak.

"You can't hide from me," Naruto reminded. "I feel your everything right here." He touched his chest, over his heart, and suddenly it ached very badly, so much so that his face pulled into a slight grimace.

Kiba averted his eyes, neither willing to confirm nor able to deny what Naruto was uncovering. Instead, he grumbled, "Damn your empathy."

Naruto huffed loudly, suppressing an uncomfortable groan. "Kiba, is he hurting you so badly?"

A silence fell between them as Kiba stubbornly refused to incriminate his lover and Naruto tried to understand the situation from inside. He listened to Kiba intently, utilizing his heightened senses to get inside both Kiba's heart and mind. He hadn't soaked up much from Kankuro's lecture about bijuu and their third eyes, but he'd listened enough to know that he had psychic abilities. He only had to try hard enough. He watched Kiba until he began to feel like he was actually going  _in_  to Kiba's body.

He looked down at his hands. They were trembling. Furiously. His heart was pounding a million miles a minute, his stomach churning so violently that he thought for sure he'd be sick. His sight traveled inward from his hands toward his body, and he began to see his skin bruising lightly. It quickly escalated into heavy blotches of abused flesh. By the time his vision got to his shoulder, he wasn't sure there was any untarnished skin left to behold. His heart began to pound faster still as tears spilled from his eyes. He faintly heard the softer whimper of a sob, recognizing that it was his own voice. But it didn't matter, because he was home alone. And the worst part was that he was thankful. He was thankful to be left alone.

Naruto's vision started to refocus on a blurry Kiba, who was watching him carefully. Naruto quickly looked down at his own hands, and they were indeed trembling. He assessed the state of his body—heart pounding, breathing uneasy, stomach churning. There was one thing missing though. No bruising. Slowly, he looked back up at Kiba. One look into the man's eyes and he knew what he'd just seen. It'd been Kiba's brutalized body.

"What has he done to you?" Naruto breathed, partially because he was still out of breath, partially because the situation was so delicate he thought more than a breath would fracture it completely, and partially because he was too shocked to even do something so subconscious as use his vocal chords properly.

Naruto didn't need visual confirmation to know the state of Kiba's body beneath his always-so-conservative clothes. He shook his head in slow disbelief, asking, "Why did you stay with him? Why didn't you talk to me?"

Kiba's eyes were full of misery. "How could I?" he whispered back.

"It woulda been easy," Naruto replied. "You coulda texted, emailed, called. Hell, you coulda just shown up at my door and knocked. You shoulda come to me."

"I did," Kiba answered softly.

Naruto knit his brows in an obvious display of confusion.

"I'm here, aren't I?" Kiba added to clarify, gesturing generally to his various things scattered all around. "I've been here a week."

"But you didn't say anything," Naruto pointed out.

Kiba shrugged weakly. "I didn't think I had to."

Naruto tried to find something to say, but Kiba was right. Naruto had just been able to tune in to Kiba so easily, but he hadn't used his abilities to focus on Kiba at all since learning he even had abilities to use. He'd neglected his best friend, and Kiba had rightfully expected Naruto to just know. The old Naruto would've been as nosy as could be. Naruto's natural curiosity had gotten them into a couple of fights, like way back when Naruto had made a big deal of wanting to know about Ren and accidentally instigated a family-wide argument in the middle of Itachi's bar.

As annoying as his curious tendencies could obviously be, it was also an important tie in showing that he was interested in his friends' lives, especially for Kiba. The two were so alike. Kiba secretly enjoyed Naruto's desire to be in on everything, just like Naruto would enjoy it too. It was the feeling of being cared for, of being watched after, that they liked. Naruto had offered none of that though, not since he'd become too absorbed in his own grief to even notice that his best friend was suffering silently on his own. There was nothing to be said. All Naruto could do was apologize.

"I-I'm so sorry," Naruto said, his voice tiny.

Kiba just shook his head. "I don't even blame you."

"No, blame me," Naruto insisted. "This is my fault."

Kiba laughed morbidly. "Naruto, you're not responsible for me. I understood what you were going through with..." He trailed off, unwilling to speak the name so easily, lest it further wound Naruto's tender heart. Naruto got who Kiba was referring to anyway. "I decided to just... fall back. I did this to myself."

"No," Naruto disagreed firmly, finding his voice again. " _Gaara_  did this to you." Kiba could say nothing, so Naruto expressed a hard truth. "Kiba, you need to leave him."

Kiba immediately shook his head no. "I can't."

"You already did," Naruto pointed out.

"I did not!" Kiba exclaimed. The emotion slowly built inside his body, causing his chest to heave slightly as his breathing grew heavy. "He says the same thing, but I can't. Why doesn't anyone understand that? I  _can't_. I love him."

For an excruciatingly long moment, Kiba just sought understanding in Naruto's gaze. But Naruto had no understanding to give. He couldn't agree with Kiba's decision on this one. Eventually, Kiba turned his eyes away and focused on stilling his trembling lips.

"Just give it space," Naruto suggested softly. "Maybe Gaara's been right about that. Let each other breathe until you're strong enough to—"

"Strong enough?" Kiba repeated sharply, looking at Naruto with eyes finally overflowing with the emotion Kiba was known for.

"That's not—" Naruto began.

"Is that you're professional opinion?!" Kiba snapped.

"Kiba, I—"

"Is my suffering worth shit?" Kiba interjected. "No. I  _am_  strong! It's not like I haven't been enduring it all this time anyway. I'm plenty strong enough!"

"I'm not trying to downplay your strength," Naruto said hurriedly, trying to get a word in. Kiba gave him space to speak freely again. "Like you said to me earlier, I'm not interested in comparing sizes and seeing who's the most manly. I'm genuinely worried about you."

"He doesn't mean to hurt me," Kiba insisted.

Naruto shook his head grimly. "No, Kiba, you're wrong. He does," Naruto disagreed. "He's squashing you like a bug to prove a point, and you're staying to prove your own. He wants to prove how terrible he is. I'm starting to think all vampires have that complex. And you just wanna prove that he's not beyond loving. And that's noble of you, but he just doesn't care. Trust me, I know this one from personal experience. He doesn't wanna hear what you have to say about him. Doesn't mean he doesn't love you. In fact, he's only hurting you to force you to leave. And why would he do that unless he loved you deeply? He just wants you safe, and so do I. So I'm afraid I have to side with Gaara on this one Kiba." Naruto's brows scrunched together in an apology, even as he finished with, "Leave him."

Kiba was left momentarily speechless in the wake of Naruto's perspective. He knew the situation from the inside out. He knew what he experienced every day, and he knew what it looked like to anyone on the outside. He couldn't refute Naruto, because Naruto was right. He and Gaara were dancing around each other in the worst way, encouraging each other to be the worst parts of themselves. Neither of them were doing the other any service at this point. But as objective as Kiba could be in analyzing his situation, there was no way to detach the feelings he felt as a result and make them logical. Emotions simply were what they were, and his emotional response was that he couldn't leave. It wasn't even an argument, because logic had no place in his heart.

"I'm not leaving," Kiba said certainly, and yet with not an ounce of certainty left in his heart.

Naruto's only reply was to stare on with a mixture of sadness and sympathy. This infuriated Kiba, because it made him feel small and weak. He didn't want to be pitied. He wanted to be loved, by Gaara. Naruto was doing nothing but making him face the rawness of his emotions by making him realize just how pitiful he'd become, but that was not something Kiba was ready to face.

"I'm not leaving!" Kiba said even more loudly, as if being louder would change the situation.

Again, Naruto only felt more empathy for his friend. This time, he opened his arms in an invitation for a hug. He didn't necessarily wait for Kiba to decide to fall into it either. He just moved forward and hugged his friend. Kiba angrily tried to shove Naruto off, but to no avail. The blond squeezed tightly to restrain him.

"No!" Kiba screamed. "I'm not leaving!" Somewhere in between, his voice morphed into a sob. "I don't  _wanna_  leave."

When Kiba's legs buckled precariously, apparently unable to support his weight any longer, Naruto carefully guided them to the floor and simply continued to comfort the brunet where they'd dropped.

"Shhh," Naruto cooed, and he would coo, and coo, and coo until his voice box itself gave out.

_To be continued..._


	18. Kyuubi

Naruto shifted in his sleep, faintly wondering why his bed suddenly felt so uncomfortable. And where was his pillow? He stirred again, patting around for the fluffball. Finding nothing, he rolled onto his back to check behind himself, realizing then that his blanket was missing too. Confused, he cracked open his eyes, thankful that the room was forgivingly dark. Kiba had made himself comfortable enough to put curtains up over the blinds a few days ago. It didn't take Naruto long to decipher that he was lying on his living room floor. He looked to his other side, the direction his body had originally been facing, and saw the hand of a dangling arm in his direct line of sight. He followed the line it created up to Kiba's serene face, resting against the very edge of the couch cushion and totally at ease. At least the brunet could find peace in his dreams.

Naruto recognized what had become his norm as of late. He was totally drained. He wasn't a morning person. He'd always found his energy once the sun was shining bright and warming his face, but anything prior to that was pretty much just pure misery as far as he was concerned. Waking up had always been one hell of a process for him, but his attitude today was far different from that. It wasn't just that he wasn't a morning person, or even the fact that his interaction with Kiba the night prior had been exhausting. There was something physically off about him. In truth, even before this whole situation with Kiba had come to his attention, Naruto had generally been exhausted. His body, his mind, his very soul—he'd just been so weary for the past few weeks.

He knew that he'd been neglecting his health so severely that he was reduced to the point of hardly hanging on by a mere thread anymore. He hadn't been sleeping particularly well lately, or really much at all, but he still opted to laze around in bed as much as possible anyway. He hardly ate anything substantial these days either. In fact, hunger had become a foreign thing to him. He could, and would, go great stretches without putting even a shred of food in his body or even feeling the need to. Even when the hunger pains did finally arise, his appetite was usually so shot to hell that he could hardly become motivated enough to even eat anything. Not even ramen appealed to him anymore. He could acknowledge all of this and generally decipher how it could be fixed, but he just couldn't manage to actually fix it.

He hadn't known what to blame it on exactly, but he was figuring it out slowly for himself. It was connected to his newfound power of a bijuu for sure, which he was finally starting to see wouldn't be all rainbows and butterflies.

He knew that a bond for him was like blood for a vampire. He'd rationalized so far that one, good bond would be enough to energize him for weeks on end. As long as the connection was solid and thriving, he could literally convert that into sustenance to keep his body alive. Just like a vampire, he didn't  _need_  food or even water. He could survive off of the energy from his bonds. In his case, though, that was all that it was—just surviving. There was no quality of life to it, not the way that he was going about it.

It would, certainly, be much more rewarding and sustaining if he'd actually had any substantial bonds to feed off of, but he didn't. Every bond that he'd created lacked all of the essential elements of a true bond—a mental understanding, an emotional connection, a physical longing, a spiritual infusion. As weak and meaningless as they were, created out of no true emotion at all, they did little for his health. It was just the sheer number of bonds he'd created alone that was even keeping him going anymore. With no appetite for food, which he was willing to attribute to being rightfully depressed, he'd starved himself of nutrition. To battle that starvation, he'd needed to create a lot of bonds just to stay alive.

It was more complex than that though. His need for bonds evolved over time.

At first, he was just curious. He was interested in his abilities, in figuring himself out as both a bijuu and the current kyuubi. That was natural enough. It sort of progressed into a distraction too though. It was a good way to keep his mind off of Sasuke while simultaneously acting out against the raven too. Then, things changed and he recognized that he was making them based on need. The bonds were there for sustenance more than they were for entertainment. Still, Naruto was okay with that because they kept him functioning productively. When they slowly stopped doing even that, though, he had to realize that he, perhaps, wasn't looking at the situation deeply enough. That was thanks to Kiba. After Kiba had finally fallen asleep last night, Naruto had lain awake for a couple more hours thinking deeply.

He wasn't functioning productively anymore. Hell, he wasn't at an even semi-productive level. He was useless, a couch potato. Sometimes he didn't even get up for school. He would literally lie awake in bed and just internally complain about how much he didn't want to go. Kiba would never let him laze though. The brunet was stretching himself thin, what with his own silent struggles, but he'd gotten Naruto to at least continue committing to things that could not be ignored, like school. Without Kiba, however, Naruto knew that he'd be little more than a vegetable.

If he had to label himself as anything, he'd call himself depressed. And, sure, he really was, but that wasn't all that Naruto was. He knew his spirit and he'd been down before, but he always got back up. His parents dying had been more painful than losing Sasuke, yet Naruto had gotten up. Twice. That was the truth of his soul. He was bright and lively. He didn't simply lie down and give up. Yet, here he was, lying on the ground and feeling as if he'd given up weeks ago.

His quality of life had totally deteriorated, and he wasn't even worried about making any changes. He hadn't wasted a single thought thus far on getting back up and reclaiming his life. He was perfectly content to stay where he was and keep living this way. Well, as content as he could manage to be, as pushing himself past total apathy was beginning to be difficult for him lately. To anyone, it would seem as if Naruto was just wallowing, but Naruto knew that it was far beyond that. He couldn't keep blaming everything on Sasuke and what the raven had done to his heart. This was way beyond Sasuke.

Like he'd already recognized, a bond for Naruto was like blood to a vampire. That meant that the act of bonding must be a lot like the act of drinking blood. He remembered being told once that just smelling blood could be like getting high for a vampire, and drinking it could be as good as being drunk. If Naruto made it a point to be objective, he could attest to the fact that he felt more sated than ever in his life when he was asserting one of his bonds. He enjoyed the pure devotion. It was almost euphoric in and of itself. Kiba had called it lovelust. Sounded a lot like bloodlust, probably because it practically was. Naruto had to recognize the truth for what it was.

He was an addict, and he looked like one too. He'd lost a good amount of weight. His skin was sallow and dull, almost appearing yellowish instead of his normal sun-kissed glow. His eyes were totally lifeless, even when he was trying to express actual emotion. Any fire that he could manage to ignite was weak and delicate, able to be blown out with ease. The biggest thing missing was his most defining quality: his thirst for life. He'd lost his desire to not just survive, but to be  _alive_. He didn't care to experience anything. He'd become content with just watching life slip by, as long as he had a vampire on the standby who would let him steal their vitality. That was enough to continue to delude him into thinking that feelings like enjoyment and euphoria and fulfillment were still real. They weren't though. In the way that he attained them, they were absolutely fake.

He'd come to exercise an uncharacteristically cynical view on life. Life as he'd used to know it seemed like a joke these days, like a fable he'd been childishly deluding himself into believing as real. Life was hardly more than a series of disappointments, and any semblance of happiness along the way was but an illusion. It was just the calm before the storm. All there really was to life was surviving. Why waste energy on anything more than getting by on the mere basics when it was all meaningless in the end?

That frame of mind took its toll on the body. All Naruto was up for anymore was barely scraping by with what little he could actually glean from the pathetic bonds he'd built in all the nooks and crannies of the city. He recognized all of this, all of what he'd become, plainly. He looked at himself very pragmatically, but there was just no fire in his heart telling him to change. He understood that the view he'd come to adopt was wrong. Who he had been before this lifeless shell of a man was who he truly was, and that was who he wanted to be again. He guessed he just didn't want it enough.

And what could he do about that? He just wasn't motivated enough to care all that much, so it was a hard task to get himself motivated enough to even get off the floor, but he did. As he clambered up from his position on the floor, he inadvertently bumped into Kiba's dangling arm.

Kiba stirred in his sleep, his brows crumpling together as he grumbled, "Whas a time?"

"Too early," Naruto sighed. Depleted as he felt, Kiba needed the sleep more than he. "You sleep in this morning," he said, since Kiba was always the one having to drag Naruto out of bed. "I'll wake you when I'm done getting ready."

Kiba stretched out his legs, though it was obvious he was still largely asleep. "M'unna wake up," he promised sleepily. "You jus sleep."

Naruto crouched down, enamored by Kiba's sweetness. "So devoted to me," he murmured softly, brushing some of Kiba's hair from the brunet's eyes reverently. He internally recognized that this devotion was free. While all of Naruto's vampires had submitted to him willingly, if only for the prospect of getting to taste the sweetness of bijuu blood, their loyalty didn't meant half as much as Kiba's. Both were voluntary, but only one was worth anything really, and it made his heart swell with its purity.

"S'what friends er for," Kiba replied, yawning and cracking open his eyes to peer drowsily at Naruto. Even as he insisted, "M'unna get up right now," his eyes fluttered shut again.

Naruto smiled, gently ruffling Kiba's hair. "I'm already awake. Just sleep, okay?"

Kiba nodded lazily, humming in cooperation. Just before drifting back off into sleep, he mumbled softly, "You stink."

Naruto couldn't help but smile widely at his friend as he stood and headed for the bathroom, his mind inevitably falling back to the topic of how blurry the line between true emotions and the ones he'd been fabricating with his vampires had become.

During the past few weeks, he'd realized that his body was acting on pure instinct rather than his personal wants and desires. Although, what with his life essence sapped from his being, his wants and desires always coincided with his body's instincts anyway. He wanted nothing more and nothing less than what he simply needed, and his body always steered him toward what he simply needed. He'd noticed that his body always charged itself up when the prospect of a "meal" presented itself—a meal meaning, from a bijuu's perspective, the energy he could extract from a bond. His body seemed to have trained itself to expect this sort of frivolous behavior of him hopping from one vampire to another tirelessly instead of relying on one, single bond.

Naruto had become so good at commanding himself this way that a great deal of vampires had actually come to him asking to be made his, and not the kind you find in back alleyways either. Those back-alley types were the ones that he never slept with. Even if sex always made him feel better, he still had  _some_  standards. He didn't want to turn himself into the village whore, so the most he would do with those sketchy types was set them on standby.

Something he'd learned about himself was that he could manipulate his bonds however he wanted. Kankuro had probably told him all about this, but he surely hadn't been listening. It was something he'd had to learn from experience on his own. His bond to a vampire was him having the ability to control their will, but he'd learned that there were lots of degrees of control he could exercise. There were two major settings, which he'd decided to consider active and dormant.

Active bonds were bonds he currently exploited. As the quantity of his bonds grew, Naruto began to realize that he couldn't have that many bonds active at once. As time went by, the number slowly grew, so he deduced that the amount of bonds he was able to exploit at once must grow with his skill level.

He was still fairly new to his abilities as a bijuu. He knew that they only came to him consciously. He wouldn't develop if he didn't actively try, which was why they were never overly present in his childhood. At 19, he was already closing in on the age at which he would plateau and stop growing completely. In other words, he'd become immortal soon. Since he was so close to being totally mature, his body was able to handle a lot at once. When he first recognized that he had abilities, they seemed to come to him out of the blue. His senses sharpened and his empathy peaked, and he could feel them honing more and more by the day. His psychic abilities weren't coming along so easily though.

Nonetheless, despite how quickly he seemed to be learning, Naruto was still just a baby for a bijuu. He'd hardly been living this life a couple of months. As he grew more and more experienced, though, he acknowledged that his ability to utilize more and more bonds at once would grow too. For now, he was limited to 2 to 4 active bonds at once.

Active bonds had two extremes—a vampire being entirely at Naruto's mercy, and a vampire having complete control of their own will. These two extreme weren't all there was to bonding though. There were endless degrees of devotion in between, and Naruto could choose any one of them that he pleased. He could manipulate a bond to give a vampire as much free will as he wanted to, and he realized that his state of mind at the time of the exchange made a difference in how the bond was created too.

During the first couple of weeks after losing Sasuke, Naruto hadn't been able to just forget the raven so easily. This distraction kept him from really committing too deeply to the bonds, even as he made them. He realized that in that state of mind, the bonds weren't created at very strong levels. Only when he focused on what he was doing and consciously noted that he wanted to control the vampire before him did the intensity crank up. As he thought less and less of Sasuke, he realized that the bonds were being made stronger and stronger as his will focused on them more intently. This was how he'd learned that he could make bonds at varying degrees of intensity. But beyond that, even after they were already made, he could manipulate them to all these degrees too. He had complete free reign over the vampires under his spell.

At the top of the active spectrum was one extreme, the extreme where a vampire was entirely at Naruto's mercy. At this extreme, the vampire's will was entirely taken away. They were more like drones than anything. Whatever Naruto said would be like law to them. They treated him like the only thing that existed in the world. He could manipulate their emotions, making them think and feel however he wanted them to. This was the sense of loyalty and love that bijuu became obsessed with.

At the bottom of the active spectrum lie the other extreme, the extreme where a vampire had complete control over their own will. These bonds would be considered the other setting. Rather than active, they were dormant. It was almost like a dormant bond didn't exist at all. The vampire would have total control over themselves and could do as they pleased, not even thinking twice about what Naruto had to say about it.

Naruto had noticed, however, that they would still feel some sort of connection to him. They'd feel inclined to protect him and he'd noticed from experimenting that they would still seek his opinion on things, although he wasn't sure if that was their choice or the bond speaking. After all, every vampire he indulged in was dedicated to him of their own free will. They  _chose_ to submit to him. They wanted to be under a bijuu's spell. While it seemed like they always had some ingrained connection to him, Naruto noticed that his vampires were able to ignore his demands if they wanted to as well.

Naruto knew he could only assert himself in 2 to 4 active bonds at once—2 if they were both at the highest degree of intensity and 4 if they were at the lowest, which would be one step above dormant. That meant that almost all of his bonds were in a constantly dormant state of being. But it didn't matter if a bond was active or dormant, each blood bond provided him with sustenance anyway. Thus, the vampires he had on standby with dormant bonds still supplied him with some energy just by being bonded to him. They also served as a sort of backup stock in case he ever grew tired of the ones he actually did get in between the sheets with.

This method of creating bonds had been working quite well for Naruto, but that was only because he'd become complacent with something so pathetically shallow and underwhelming.

He mused as he scrubbed the smell of sex from his previous night's encounter off his body that maybe he could actually find a way to integrate some vigor back in his life. He understood bonding for vampires. It didn't always have to be a blood bond. Vampires could be bonded to others emotionally too, but it seemed like that would only happen between family or extremely close friends. Nonetheless, though, it was a bond, and it could potentially be very strong. Naruto had to wonder if he was capable of that too. Was the only way he could bond by making the exchange with a vampire? Or was he capable of bonding emotionally too?

Little as he'd absorbed from Kankuro's explanation on bijuu, he remembered Kankuro saying that the ability to bond was something the bijuu had developed not only as a method of subduing vampires but as a way to recreate something they themselves didn't have. Bijuu were, apparently, empathetic beings, but they didn't seem to think themselves capable of the same kind of love they saw between vampires. So, then, did bijuu think the only way to feel love was through creating blood bonds? Perhaps they had been confused. Perhaps they hadn't known about the emotional bonds that vampires could make. Maybe for all this time they'd been lusting after something they were already capable of doing. After all, making an emotional bond wasn't strictly a vampirous thing. Humans did it between each other all the time. It was just caring for someone the way Kiba cared for Naruto.

So could Naruto extract the same energy from Kiba that he extracted from his blood bonds? It seemed like a plain enough answer, but it wasn't. Easy and simple as it seemed to be, it'd been escaping bijuu for centuries. It might have been easy enough for humans to feel energized by their connections to their friends and family, but bijuu weren't human. They were more complex, more sensitive. There was a certain kind of distance that settled between the bijuu and other beings. Being able to feel someone so irrevocably with their natural empathy, bijuu were too emotionally sensitive to be close to people so flippantly. It was simply over-stimulating. So maybe that was why they'd always thought they were incapable of love.

As the only other being that bijuu could commiserate with on that level, it was only natural that the bijuu looked to the vampires for a sort of guide on how to become close to other beings. As far as the bijuu knew, vampires became empathetic only when they grew very close to another being. At that point, the vampires were just like them. They, too, would struggle with being close to someone who could not balance out the sensitivity, but the vampires' solution was ingrained into their instincts. The first vampires had come in 5 pairs of mates. It was within them to instinctively seek a mate within their own race, but bijuu didn't have that within their community.

There was only 10 bijuu, and 10 there could only ever be at any given point in time. They didn't come in pairs like the vampires originally had, so it wasn't in them instinctively to mate to each other. It wasn't even in them to mate at all. The desire had only risen once the bijuu became more and more unnecessary in the pursuit of balance for the world. Naturally, they grew bored. All they really had to do with their basically immortal lives was to watch and see, so they'd watched the vampires with curiosity, and they'd become jealous and thus developed their lust for finding that same kind of love.

The bijuu had come to view bonding as a substitute for love, but they'd totally missed the fact that vampire mates didn't create blood bonds. Vampires mates were bonded together completely emotionally.

Naruto could see now why bijuu had come to believe that the only way to find love was by creating bonds. As far as they knew, blood bonds were the only type of bonds that they could even create. If that was the case, then there was only one creature that the bijuu could bond to, and that was vampires. With that kind of misguided thinking, it was no wonder his lovelust was so hard for Naruto to even recognize as a problem to begin with. Well, he recognized it as an issue. He just didn't care enough to... well... care.

This was an easy solution though. If he had this right, then all Naruto needed to do was connect to his friends again. If he could manage to do that, then he'd be able to take his energy from them. Part of him was hesitant in accepting this ideology, mainly because he didn't want to start sucking the vitality from his friends. It was fine with the vampires. They could just go drink some blood and be instantaneously fine. Humans weren't like that though. They were more delicate. Naruto didn't think it would be that hard for him to end up putting a friend in a coma just from taking too much energy from them.

The other part of him hesitated because, put simply, he was addicted. A dark part of him enjoyed this way of life, and it just didn't want to let the vampires go. Then again, he rationalized, if he could switch to feeding off of humans he was genuinely close to, then the payback would be greater. That meant less bonds were necessary and he could go on getting the same satisfaction of his lovelust, just in a new way.

The logical, objective half of Naruto's brain was unable to accept what he was currently thinking. Instead of theorizing a way to just be normal again, to not need anyone's energy but his own, Naruto was simply shifting prey. Then again, he could utilize this as a stepping stone. If he truly pursued this plan of depending on emotional bonds he already had around him, then he would, without doubt, return to an energy level he hadn't been at in ages. With more will and conviction in his bones, maybe then he'd be able to make the full change and stop needing bonds at all.

In the end, Naruto could only run with the idea. If he questioned it too much, he'd talk himself back into a lack of motivation and just become resigned to giving up again. Maybe Kiba had already given him a slight energy boost with his unsolicited loyalty, because Naruto felt like this was his one chance at getting out of the hole he'd dug himself in. He had to commit now, or else he didn't think he'd ever pull himself out. But he had to. He had to change.

"Naruto," Kiba said loudly, knocking on the shower door simultaneously. "C'mon, get out. We're gonna be late."

Naruto jumped out of his head. "Huh? Kiba?" he asked. He must have zoned out. "Has it been that long already?"

"Yeah, doofus," Kiba answered. "I've made breakfast and everything. Get out and eat so I can get in."

Kiba left it at that and walked away, likely to go gather his clothes for the day. Naruto rinsed out the shampoo that had been just sitting in his hair but left the water on, grabbing his towel off its hanger and stepping out of the shower with it around his waist just as Kiba was walking back into the bathroom. He didn't bother acknowledging Naruto. He just shouldered past him and started to undress, grumbling to himself about how wet the floor was. Just about to leave the bathroom and enter his bedroom, Naruto paused and looked back at Kiba.

"You're the one who rushed me outta the shower," he defended.

Kiba didn't say anything. He just glanced at Naruto over his shoulder and shrugged. Naruto frowned. Where had Kiba's personality gone?

"You gonna stand there and watch me or get dressed?" Kiba prompted, tapping his foot at Naruto impatiently.

Naruto just closed the door to his bedroom and left Kiba to be. He was in an awfully prickly mood. Naruto decided to just let it be and dressed himself in a red shirt, old jeans, and black and red shoes. Satisfied with his outfit, he threw a towel on his head and started drying his hair as he walked out into the kitchen. On the counter was a plate of one scrambled egg, a piece of bacon, and half a piece of toast. Naruto frowned at the sight. So little food. Nonetheless, he ate it, realizing once he was done that it was enough. His appetite was quickly sated. In fact, it might have been more food than he'd eaten in days.

Just as Naruto was finishing his last bite of bacon, Kiba came out of the bathroom. They glanced at each other at the same time, Kiba still rubbing his hair and Naruto's towel just sitting atop his head. Kiba's eye brows rose high as he slowly came to a stop, his eyes now fixed on Naruto's plate. They shot up to Naruto's face.

"You ate," Kiba pointed out, pulling the towel off his head and using that hand to point at the empty plate.

Naruto shrugged. "Well, you cooked," he said simply.

"I always cook."

"Okay, I'm sorry?" Naruto offered uncertainly, assuming Kiba was alluding to the fact that Naruto never seemed to mind rejecting his food, no matter how hard he worked on it.

"No, it's fine," Kiba assured. "I just..." His eyes flicked back to the plate and his brows crumpled together. "You ate," he said again, seeming to revert back to the same mixture of shock and wonder he'd begun with.

Naruto snorted a laugh, causing Kiba's shock and awe to intensify. "Yes, Kiba. I ate. It was good."

His light attitude faltered when Kiba didn't respond in turn. Seriously, what was Kiba's problem?

Kiba just shook his head, disbelieving. "That's the most emotion I've seen on your face in ages," he said, his lips slowly curving into a smile. "Other than last night of course, but none of that was particularly good emotion."

"Yeahh..." Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly, a characteristic he hadn't displayed in a long time either. "About that. I'm working on a change," he began to explain.

**~ ( >^.^)> <(^.^<) ~**

Naruto laughed heartily as Kiba finished an especially cheesy joke, his arm draped around the back of the brunet's chair, establishing constant contact with the man's back. Kiba looked over at Naruto, laughing the loudest at the table of their friends, and smiled softly.

"Too much," he whispered so that only Naruto would hear.

Naruto's laughter awkwardly died out. As he toned himself down, he shifted uncomfortably under the tension of the situation. He moved his arm from behind Kiba's chair and, instead, anxiously gripped his friend's knee under the table, managing to look casual nonetheless.

He couldn't help it if he was nervous. It'd been so long since he'd last seen his friends, and they weren't being too welcoming either. He'd really isolated himself after Sasuke, from everyone. Though still disturbed, Kiba had managed to step out of his own depression enough to slightly compensate for Naruto's absence in their group. He could see on their faces that they were concerned, and if only to allow Naruto the space he needed to grieve, he made himself retract from his shell and become more social again. He'd thought that maybe if he'd participated more actively, then he could keep everyone from focusing too much on Naruto. Naruto had done Kiba the same courtesy before too, so it was only fair that Kiba do the best he could for his friend.

That had worked, but it hadn't kept their friends completely placated. They'd still wondered about Naruto, talked about him, created theories. Some of them were more absurd than others, and once they grew tired of Kiba's constant nagging of them to stop talking about Naruto so often, they just stopped bringing the conversation to Kiba at all. They started talking behind Kiba's back too, innocently trying to explain the sudden shift in the group's dynamic. That left Kiba just as clueless as Naruto about what their friends were thinking about him, so Kiba wasn't surprised that Naruto was so deeply anxious. All he could do was tend to that uneasiness, so he reached under the table and reassuringly placed his hand atop Naruto's, relaxing himself and hoping that Naruto's would absorb his aura and relax too.

Once Naruto had explained his plan for change that morning—which had taken their entire ride to school and then some, making them late in the end—Kiba came to understand that what Naruto wanted to do was test out his ability to live off of emotional bonds. Kiba knew that the lovelust would still be the same, but at least it was better than Naruto going out and giving himself so willingly to all those vampires. Trusting only himself to encourage Naruto properly, Kiba had eagerly offered himself up as a test subject.

His main reasoning had been that being a part of this experiment meant he had to stay living with Naruto semi-permanently. That was good for both of them, even though the past week had proven to be tense and tumultuous at best. For Kiba, it was his way of, as Naruto urged, "leaving Gaara" without really feeling the guilt and pain of leaving. He could stay with Naruto for Naruto's benefit, and then some day he would graduate to accepting that he and Gaara were no longer a thing. For now, this was the perfect transitional phase and Kiba was going to take this bull by the horns, for the both of their sake.

Naruto had returned to his old self with amazing ease. He was figuring out how to convert Kiba's energy into his own rather easily. Kiba could tell upon reuniting over the course of the day that Naruto was having great struggles with his mood though. He'd come back to Kiba irritable and scowling, or else just totally apathetic. Physical touch reverted that pretty quickly. It was a pretty straightforward way to exchange energy. Naruto just wasn't advanced enough to use Kiba's bond the way he used the vampires. There was no way to extract energy without the physical touch yet.

Naruto was naive and still in the throes of learning something new, but at least he was able to take some energy from Kiba and smile and laugh again. That warmed Kiba's heart to an immeasurable degree. Kiba could see that the more he felt for Naruto in his heart, the more lively Naruto seemed to be. As a flourish of affection and pride and swelled inside Kiba, Naruto's eyes seemed to practically glow with life. This only further intensified Kiba's emotions, further intensifying Naruto's vitality.

And then things quickly turned sour. Kiba suddenly swayed in his seat. Some eyes strayed to him questioningly, but he just smiled at his friends to ease their worry. But then he almost fell right out of his seat. Luckily, Naruto reached out and caught him just in time. Everyone quickly began to question what was wrong as Naruto pulled Kiba up into a properly sitting position and stabilized him with one arm around his shoulders and the other gently holding his elbow. Naruto's eyes were dimming though, filling with guilt. He understood immediately and began to pull away, but Kiba only huddled closer to his friend.

"It's okay," he assured everybody, smiling and waving one weak hand dismissively. "I'm just a little sick," he said as an excuse.

"Tell me your symptoms," Sakura immediately suggested, concern warming her eyes, which had been icy all day.

"No offense," Naruto began before Kiba could reply, "but you're not a real doctor, Sakura."

The woman snapped intolerant eyes to Naruto. "And you're not a real friend," she retorted sharply, "but you don't see me bitching at you about that all the time."

Naruto was taken aback by the sudden venom in her voice as Ino slapped her friend in the arm and murmured something in a hushed tone to her. Sakura haughtily looked away from Naruto and Ino smiled apologetically at him.

"We're gonna go," Ino said timidly, standing and pulling Sakura up by the arm.

"I can walk on my own," Sakura growled, grabbing her bag and stomping away.

Ino forgot her manners and stomped after her friend, inciting their typical bickering as they walked away, gesturing at each other wildly as their voices faded. Naruto watched them in slight astonishment, confused about Sakura's sudden attitude. Well, it wasn't that sudden. She'd been treating him with a cold shoulder since they first saw each other at the start of the day.

"Don't let it bother you," Chouji said, reaching out to pat Naruto on the arm spiritedly.

Unintentionally, Naruto shied away, not wanting to steal anything from Chouji too. He could see that his action bothered Chouji, if only because he thought it was weird for Naruto to react that way to a friendly gesture. Though, he was partially stung by the feeling of rejection too. He was the only one who had been trying overly hard to make Naruto feel comfortable, but Naruto didn't seem to care all that much.

"You're obviously still not in your right mind," Shikamaru pointed out. "Neji might've been right about you."

"What?" Naruto asked.

He was both genuinely confused and slightly wary of what Neji might have had to say about him. Last time he and Neji had interacted, things were still pretty tense between them because of Naruto's treatment of Hinata at the Halloween party, and then Sasuke's subsequent treatment of Neji too. Naruto couldn't imagine that Neji had anything positive to say about him.

Shika shrugged. "He said you were outta your mind, and that's why you just sorta disappeared on us." He paused, appraising Naruto. "I don't think you're crazy, but he also said it would be a long time before he trusted you enough to hang out with you again. That's why he refuses to eat lunch with us as long as we sit with you, forbids Hinata and Tenten from it too."

"But they told us to tell you they missed you," Chouji added, trying to make Naruto's suddenly very sullen eyes spark up again. There was no use.

Shikamaru stood from the table then, nudging Chouji and prompting his friend to do the same. "I think you guys have some sorting out to do before the group is comfortable together again," he pointed out. "Neji's right on that part."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto snapped, thinking that was another allusion to the allegedly unstable mentality his friends had come to believe he was suffering from.

"You look like a couple," Shikamaru said bluntly, causing Naruto's irritation to fumble and morph into surprise.

Naruto looked down at Kiba, who was nestled against his side and seemingly fighting the urge to just stay awake. He quickly pulled away, partly to avoid the stigma of them dating and partly to keep from sucking out any more of Kiba's life. Kiba had to brace himself with both hands on the table to keep from falling over.

Shika looked confused about why Naruto would rather let his friend almost face plant into the table rather than continue supporting him and run the risk of looking like a couple. Shikamaru liked to analyze things, but Naruto was becoming a conundrum. In the end, the brunet shrugged.

"You are what you are. I don't care. I just think you need to get some things straight in your life before you come to us again Naruto," Shikamaru pointed out. "Clearly, Kiba is the one to help you with that."

With that, Shikamaru started walking away. Following, Chouji called back to Naruto over his shoulder, "But we're still your friends!" He smiled and turned away with a thumbs up lingering in the air.

Once they were all gone, Naruto sighed and buried his face in his hands, choking down emotion. Kiba reached over to touch Naruto, but Naruto shifted away.

"Don't," he said tightly. "You can't handle it right now."

"Naruto," Kiba beckoned softly, waiting until the blond peeked out at him. "You can't handle anything less."

Naruto revealed his full face again, unashamed of the tears pooling in his eyes. He'd thought he could just assimilate back into his old life, that he'd be accepted. He thought he'd rekindle all his lost bonds and they'd be strong again. He'd thought he'd master this whole taking energy thing quickly, and then he'd be able to rely on true loyalty and companionship to fuel his body. But he'd been wrong. He had no bonds now. He just had Kiba.

Defeated, Naruto scooted over and dropped his head on Kiba's shoulder, closing his eyes when the brunet gently patted his face.

"Just a little," Naruto conceded.

**~ ( >^.^)> <(^.^<) ~**

Naruto released a slow, tense, steady breath as he tried to keep his concentration. After a few moments, he reached out and touched Kiba's arm. Nothing seemed to happen, so he huffed and threw his hands up dramatically in defeat.

"It's useless!"

"It's not," Kiba soothed, patting Naruto's leg in comfort as they sat facing each other cross-legged on Naruto's bed.

"It is!" Naruto snapped, slightly irritated. He fell back onto his bed with a huge sigh. "Bijuu just aren't meant to do this."

Kiba walked his hands up the bed on either side of Naruto's body until the knees of both their crossed legs touched and his face was in Naruto's view.

"Not true," Kiba said seriously. "Naruto, you came up with this theory, and it's good. I know a lot on the subject, so trust me when I say it makes sense. There are no loopholes. You're capable of it. You just don't know how, because apparently no bijuu has ever tried this before."

"But how can you be sure?"

"Well, we already know that emotional bonds can work," Kiba began. "And you've gotten really good at tempering yourself too. Who's to say you're not capable of more?"

Naruto was now capable of taking a determined amount of energy from Kiba and then doling it out in whatever factions he chose at any time. It was amazing how much he'd changed. He was almost able to keep his bright attitude sustained throughout the whole day now. There were pockets of wavering, but that was expected since he'd been breaking his vampires bonds steadily too. With the numbers beginning to dwindle, Kiba had sort of been expecting Naruto to revert back to just surviving. He didn't though. He valiantly fought to remain strong.

In all, Naruto was doing a good job of keeping his spirits high. He wasn't settling for anything less than happy these days. He wouldn't let himself be just complacent or content or alright, and neither would Kiba. The brunet only ever relented when he saw true mirth mingling in Naruto's eyes. Naruto was becoming more responsible for his own self though. His determination and drive were returning to him. When he felt those swings of apathy coming on, he'd remedy them with a little dose of Kiba energy. He'd gotten amazing at storing it up inside himself and taking it in small doses when necessary, making him more pleasant to be around all the time and not just when attached to Kiba's hip.

The only thing left really troubling Kiba was the amount of energy he could give Naruto. They no longer had the problem of Naruto not being able to moderate himself. The problem now was that Kiba just physically didn't have enough energy in him to sustain Naruto for much longer. The appetite for energy that Naruto had created with his various blood bonds was so great that it was becoming too much to take from one single human being, no matter how much positive emotion Kiba could manage to churn up in his heart. He found that pure love was the most fueling emotion, and it wasn't hard to feel that. Kiba felt it for Naruto every day, and it seemed to be growing as they spent more time together. For Kiba, it was instantaneous to generate energy for Naruto. It wasn't a lack of will that put them at this stone wall. It was a lack of ability. Kiba just physically wasn't able to satiate Naruto.

Within the next few days, something was going to have to change. Naruto would just have to fight off his appetite. He'd just have to learn to live with the lovelust and not give in, like vampires had to live with their thirst for blood. Or else he'd just have to make some more strong emotional bonds. Naruto didn't like those suggestions though. He'd thought he had a better idea, so Kiba heard him out. Naruto theorized that if he could just manage to be able to transfer energy from himself, the he'd be able to send it back into Kiba. It'd crossed Kiba's mind already that such was a fruitless endeavor. Even if Naruto could manage to do this, which Kiba was sure that he could, it would just be Naruto passing energy he needed back to Kiba. It was silly, to give Kiba the energy Naruto would just take right back. It was pointless, actually.

But Naruto had suggested it so eagerly, his eyes so sparkling and hopeful, and Kiba understood why. He was still so fragile, so fractured. He was operating under such delicate circumstances, because the wound that had incited all of this still remained. Sasuke was gone, and Naruto needed to close that wound before he would ever be able to stop relying on bonds entirely. And as far as making new bonds went, it was obvious that Naruto just wasn't emotionally prepared to be that vulnerable to anyone else yet. If Naruto wasn't ready to face these things, then Kiba wasn't going to make him. If Naruto needed to go through this trial and error before he was ready to finally start the real healing, then Kiba would play along earnestly. Anything for Naruto.

A thought had occurred to him anyway, a new solution that neither of them had touched on yet. Maybe a change in the way they transferred energy would work too. It wouldn't be a permanent fix, but it might help extend the period of time before they had to face making a change in the way they were doing things. Or maybe it could be permanent. Maybe this could change things for the better, for the both of them, forever.

Kiba smiled at Naruto. "I have an idea," he said, causing Naruto's eyes to cautiously perk up.

"What is it?" Naruto asked warily.

Kiba uncrossed his legs so that he was positioned more securely over Naruto's body. For a moment, he just stared at Naruto, who returned his gaze inquisitively. Kiba smiled, affection swelling in his heart at the ever-innocent twinkle to Naruto's eyes. No matter what the man faced, Naruto always had this air of purity around him, as if he could never be truly tainted by anything. No wonder people were drawn to him. It was the same reason people said they were drawn to Kiba too, except when Kiba looked at an alleged mirror image of himself, he saw everything that he didn't have but needed. He wondered if it was the same for Naruto. He wondered what it would feel like to explore Naruto's aura, what he would find inside.

Without warning and driven by a need to be closer, Kiba leaned down and kissed his friend.

_To be continued..._


	19. The Swing of Things

Stunned, Naruto could do nothing but stare up at Kiba with wide eyes. His heart, having seemingly stopped, hammered hard in his chest when the soft kiss was broken and Kiba's breath fanned over his lips. Kiba returned his gaze boldly for a long, long,  _long_  moment while Naruto tried to repair the fractured functions of his brain. In that moment, Kiba's courage drained away until he was reduced into a wildly blushing mess.

"Oh my god," he said in frantic embarrassment, pushing away from Naruto and jumping off the bed to escape.

Naruto quickly reached after Kiba, just barely catching the brunet by the wrist and almost falling off the bed in the process. Kiba continued to try to squirm out of the hold and lock himself away in the only private place they had in the small apartment: the bathroom. The frantic movement died down quickly enough and then they were just left in tense silence, Naruto watching the back of Kiba's head and waiting for him to turn around and face the blond again. Kiba didn't though. He just kept his back turned, covering his face with his free hand and fighting off the mortified tears welling in his eyes.

After another painfully long moment of processing, Naruto tugged on his friend's arm. "Kiba?"

Kiba tried with renewed force to pull his wrist free to flee, but Naruto pulled back this time. He tugged hard enough to cause Kiba to backpedal until his butt was firmly seated on the bed again. Still mostly recumbent, Naruto curled his body to find an angle at which he could peek up at Kiba's face.

"Are you crying?" Naruto asked, a gentle concern in his voice.

Kiba pulled his hand from Naruto's grasp and used it to cover his face more fully, unable to help the tears of humiliation as they spilled from his eyes. He groaned and threw himself back onto the bed to escape Naruto's eyes, turning to give his back to Naruto and curling into his own body. Naruto jumped up into a sitting position, grabbing Kiba by the shoulder and trying to turn him onto his back.

"Hey," Naruto whined. "Don't turn away from me."

"Naruto, stop!" Kiba yelled, his voice muffled by his hands. "I'm mortified!"

Naruto laughed slightly, finding this whole reaction to be a bit over-dramatic for a kiss.

"Why? It's not a dig deal," Naruto replied.

Kiba eased just enough for Naruto to be able to urge him onto his back. The blond planted one hand on the other side of Kiba's waist, sitting so that at least his face was within Kiba's sight. He used the hand not supporting his weight to gently tug at one of Kiba's wrists, carefully encouraging him to pull his hands away.

"I'm not gonna judge you or anything," Naruto assured. "I promise."

Finally, Kiba gave and let one of his hands reveal a single, sparkling eye and the beet-red skin of his cheek.

Naruto smiled. "See? No judging," he said reassuringly.

Kiba swallowed thickly. "You're not... reacting," he pointed out.

Naruto blushed very slightly as he was forced to directly address the kiss, but he was otherwise calm. "It was just a kiss," he said, shrugging.

Kiba's hands both dropped then, revealing a displeased pout. "Just a kiss?" he repeated, sounding slightly offended.

Confused, Naruto replied, "That's not what you wanna hear?"

Kiba huffed. "No!" he exclaimed.

"But I thought you were only doing it to see if it would transfer energy better," Naruto said innocently.

How had Naruto known his intentions so easily? "Well... I was," Kiba conceded.

"So what's the big deal?" Naruto asked. "It worked."

Kiba blushed again. "R-Really?"

Naruto nodded. "This is definitely more energy than I've felt from you in... well... ever."

Immediately rationalizing why, Kiba buried his face in his hands again.

Naruto groaned at the regression. "Kiba," he whined. "What is this? C'mon! It's not like we haven't been as close as can be for a while now. I touch you in all sorts of weird ways for just friends, but you don't blush then. Suddenly you kiss me totally innocently and you can't deal."

"It wasn't innocent!" Kiba hollered, halting Naruto's futile attempts to pry his hands away again.

"What?" Naruto asked. "Say again."

Kiba turned onto his side away from Naruto again. "I actually like you!" he yelled, finding that to be the only way he could gather the balls to admit that so bluntly.

Naruto could only gape for a moment. Slowly, he opened himself up to Kiba's aura. He'd been suppressing that connection between them lately because he'd been sensing some very sexual desires from Kiba. He'd assumed they were thoughts about Gaara, and he didn't want to be intrusive about anything Kiba hadn't brought up himself. So he stopped connecting to Kiba so naturally. It'd never occurred to him that Kiba could  _possibly_  have been thinking about him. As he touched Kiba's aura, though, it seemed as plain as day.

Suddenly, Naruto was the one blushing. "You..." He trailed off before simply questioning uncertainly, "Kiba? What?"

Kiba said nothing, only curled into himself more tightly. God! If he could turn invisible at that moment, he would! It was amazing that his entire body wasn't just turning red from the intensity of his blush. "It just came from nowhere!" he defended. "It's just... we were being so close... and then... I just... I don't know! Stop judging me! You said you wouldn't judge me!"

Naruto could feel Kiba's insecurity so deeply that it began to make his own stomach churn sickly. He would never want Kiba to feel that in his presence. Even in a situation like this, Kiba should feel safe and secure enough to be honest and open. In an attempt to be reassuring, he touched Kiba's back gently. That only incited a wave of butterflies to bloom in Kiba's gut, which made Naruto's stomach flutter too. Instead of pulling away though, Naruto was intrigued.

' _What is this feeling?_ '

' _Why am I reacting to Kiba so strongly?_ '

' _I touch him so often, but this feels different all of a sudden._ '

A lot of things crossed Naruto's mind, but the recognition that he'd been in this exact position already before, many a time, was not one of them. He didn't stop to realize that this same situation was what he'd experienced with his blood bonds to vampires too. The vamps would feel something and Naruto would mirror it. That was how he got sucked into believing the delusion that he was happy with his life. They would feel positively pleased by Naruto's presence. His blood made sure of that, spell-binding as it was. In the end, when Naruto took his energy from them, it was charged with those emotions and he too would end up feeling pleased.

That very trickery was why he and so many other bijuu became so addicted to making bonds. They indulged to create a sense of fulfillment in their lives, but it was as fake as could be. Or perhaps that wasn't the word. It was real, but what it was not was genuine. It came from someone's heart, but not Naruto's. This was the situation he was now in, but it simply didn't cross his mind that he was only mocking what Kiba was feeling himself. He just took the bull by the horns and ran with it. After all, his true personality was thrill-seeking. The true Naruto loved the way his veins seemed to sing with the hot rush of excitement. If Kiba could do this to him, then who was he to question and complain? The only time this had ever happened was when Sasuke had kissed him. Sasuke wasn't real to him anymore though, but Kiba was. And Kiba was sitting right here, returning the feeling in a way that Naruto wasn't sure Sasuke ever could.

Naruto's hand shifted, moving up Kiba's back and over the curve of his shoulder. Naruto had never known how smooth that curve could be. As he gently pressed Kiba's shoulder down toward the bed, urging him to open his body up again, he noted how he'd never noticed how perfect the angles of Kiba's collar bones were too. They stuck up enough to be striking, but not so much that they became anything less beautiful than they were meant to be. And Kiba's chin too. It was delicate, yet manly. The roundness of Kiba's cheeks was revealed as the man's hands slowly began to recede, and Naruto made another internal note about how perfect that was too. Kiba's hair fell in all the right places. And his lips... oh, his lips. Naruto's eyes dropped to watch them move.

"Naruto..."

The blond watched Kiba speak carefully, his own lips curving up at the corners into a small smile.

"Hey," Naruto said softly.

His eyes flickered back up to lock with Kiba's. His free hand trailed up from Kiba's shoulder to slip itself seamlessly between Kiba's cheek and his hand, which was still hovering nearby. Kiba's hand shifted out of the way, loosely wrapping its fingers around Naruto's forearm instead to accommodate the new warmth on his face. The touch was tentative on Kiba's behalf, as if he were afraid he'd break the moment with too much pressure.

Smoothly, Naruto transitioned his weight from resting in his hand to resting on that same arm's elbow instead. That brought his head close enough to Kiba's face for their breath to mingle, but not quite close enough to touch. Still, the shift in proximity was enough to coax the breath from Kiba's lungs in an unsteady rush and cause the thumping of his heart to double. Naruto's eyes traveled down to watch Kiba's throat push down a nervous gulp.

"I can sense... everything," Naruto murmured, finding the way he was suddenly so acutely tuned into Kiba's being absolutely enthralling. His thumb moved and brushed Kiba's face lightly, stopping the brunet's breath for a moment. Naruto's eyes snapped back up to Kiba's lips in time to catch the way they trembled as that hitch of breath escaped.

"It's amazing," Naruto whispered, curiosity and desire igniting a fire in his eyes and bringing a whole new heat to his lips. Kiba could tell by the swelter Naruto's mere breath could incite that if he were to touch those lips, he'd be branded for life. He logically knew that he needed to be cautious, but he physically didn't care. He just allowed himself to swoon as Naruto breathed more fire into his body.

"Your heart's racing," Naruto muttered. "I can feel your body reacting... in so many ways..." For a moment, Naruto closed his eyes, inhaling a short but deep breath. Kiba decided that the purpose was to be steadying when the next words came from Naruto's mouth.

"It's almost too much to resist," Naruto said softly, opening his eyes and swearing he could see Kiba's body literally begin to glow as his desire climbed. Then it really became too much to resist. He suddenly wasn't sure what he'd even been waiting for to begin with.

"I'm gonna kiss you," Naruto murmured as he practically fell onto Kiba's lips in his haste.

The touch physically shocked Naruto, so he quickly pulled away. His brows drew together as a serious expression claimed his face and he tried to decipher what had just passed between them. Kiba was unconcerned, for it seemed obvious to him that it was the raw love from his heart. Instead of questioning it like Naruto, he lifted the hand not yet touching the blond to tentatively cup the man's neck.

Kiba should have paused then. He should have questioned the moment he'd created between them. He should have stopped and tried to look upon their situation with clear eyes. He was responsible for this, so it was his duty to ensure it was cultivated properly, but he didn't. He just let Naruto's heat sway him in ways no one had done for quite some time. He let himself succumb to a desire that he didn't mind being enslaved too. He wasn't going to stop Naruto, or himself for that matter. Oh, no. He was going to embrace this for what it was—borderline fucking ecstasy.

A shiver wiggled down Naruto's spine as the contact sent a new wave of intensity bouncing between them. Kiba made him feel hungry in a dangerous kind of way, in a way that felt so wrong that it somehow rounded back to right. Kiba wasn't questioning it though, so neither would Naruto. Rather than worry about what all this could mean, Naruto was content to simply kiss Kiba again... and again, and again, and again. He kissed Kiba repeatedly until there was no start, or end, or anything but pure indulgence at all.

Only when he felt he'd literally explode with all the energy in his body did Naruto decide that he'd had enough. It was interesting how Naruto had to be the one to terminate the contact because he didn't think he could handle any more energy. When he pulled back to look into Kiba's flushed but pleased face, Kiba was in the only state he could be with Naruto feeling so buzzed. His eye lids opened only half way, staying drooped dangerously low. His bottom lip trembled with his weak breathing, not nearly deep enough to truly restore the stolen vigor to his lungs.

"I'm sorry," Naruto apologized, frowning slightly. "I sucked you dry."

Kiba shrugged feebly, his grip weak on the wrist of Naruto's hand, which had slid down to cup his neck gently. His other hand had lost its strength altogether and just fallen to the bed limply. "I don't mind," he breathed, smiling weakly.

Naruto's frown lifted into a slight smile and he kissed Kiba chastely. "I prefer you alive," he said softly against the man's lips. "C'mon. Sleep'll help," he said as he sat up and nodded for Kiba to move too.

The brunet just shook his head back and forth once. "I can't," he admitted softly.

Naruto sighed, guilt and admonishment mixing in his gaze. "You always make yourself seem fine when you're not," he scolded gently. He leaned back over Kiba, adding tenderly, "I genuinely love you, and I won't treat you like a tool. You have to say 'no' sometimes."

Although, in truth, Naruto couldn't honestly know if his sentiment had been the truth or a lie. Certainly, he cared for his best friend and love would be an appropriate word to use, but whether or not it was actually on a romantic note or to a degree that matched Kiba could not be discerned so easily, not where lovelust was concerned. But that was the thing. The lovelust sort of just blended in with whatever was happening. There were no seams to it, so how could Naruto even begin to understanding where it began? How could he possibly know what had come from his own heart and mind? Did he even really care to begin with? Or was he content to just let this be whatever it was and simply enjoy it for as long as it was freely given to him?

"If we're gonna do this—"

"Are we?" Kiba asked eagerly, though his voice was still wispy and weak.

Naruto's lips pulled into a smile again. "Only if you swear to be honest with me," he stipulated. "Promise to tell me when you're spent. Don't let me suck you dry like this. I think you could really get hurt by it," he said with concern. "Or worse," he added in a murmur. "You could die."

Kiba found the strength to lift a tremulous hand and seek out Naruto's cheek, limitless affection filling his eyes. "I could never run out of energy for you," he said surely, "even if my physical body gave up."

Naruto sighed, touched by Kiba's devotion but still somewhat displeased. He grabbed Kiba's hand, relieving the brunet of having to expend any more energy holding it up. He held it there against his cheek for a moment before kissing its palm and then bringing it to his chest.

"I believe that," he assured, "but I don't want your body to give up. So promise me you'll be blunt and honest with me."

Kiba smiled. "I will never lie to you, Naruto," he promised devoutly, and Naruto believed every word as surely as he felt them in his heart.

He pressed Kiba's open palm firmly against the unsteady beat of his heart. "You're too intense for me," Naruto pointed out. "I can't tempter myself in a situation like this," he admitted bluntly. "It's like I'm back at square one."

"But you're not," Kiba assured quickly but quietly. "You're not taking anything from me now," he pointed out.

Naruto nodded. "True," he conceded. "But as soon as I kiss you..." He trailed off, huffing out a sexually charged breath. "You bring out a whole different kinda hunger in me," he informed. "We're good at touching, but I don't know how good we'll be at it when it's as intimate as this. Do you really think you can handle me touching you the way we do so often on top of something like this?" He asked. The question was rhetorical, and just to assure that he wasn't making Kiba out to be the weak link, he added, "Hell, I don't know if  _I_  can handle it. I mean, I feel a little high right now."

Kiba snickered, so easily undoing the work he'd done with so far with steadying his breathing.

"I think it's fair to say no bare skin in every day situations," Naruto went on. "We should leave that for here, where we can be safe."

"Just promise you'll..." Kiba paused to catch his breath.

"Shh," Naruto shushed softly. "I hear you before you even speak," he assured. "You want me to test the boundaries before I go making rules," he said.

Kiba nodded.

"I'll be open," Naruto promised. "Here, in the bedroom," he clarified. "I'm not gonna risk something happening in public, and that's final."

Kiba rolled his eyes, but Naruto knew that there was an understanding between them. Kiba accepted Naruto's stipulations, and Naruto accepted Kiba's too. Peace falling between them, Naruto helped situate Kiba properly in the bed, covering the man with the blanket and laying facing him on top of everything. The two laid there staring at each other's faces for only mere moments before Kiba's eyes drifted shut and he fell into a deep sleep. Naruto was careful not to disturb him. Kiba needed to regain his strength. Later, Naruto would make something for Kiba to eat, to help him shape back up more quickly. Maybe sweets would help too. Naruto knew chocolate naturally countered the effects of venom, however mildly, so maybe it would also work for this. In a way, Naruto's kisses were like venom too.

For now, though, Naruto stayed where he was, partially because he didn't want to disturb Kiba and partially because he was content to just lay there and think. Pulling himself out of Kiba's being and re-identifying himself as an individual again, Naruto tried to separate truth from fallacy. In the end, he ran himself in circles. Even as he holed back into his own body and released the influence of Kiba, Naruto's own lovelust kept him steadily confused. He wanted to explore the idea that he was buying into this more deeply than what was true to his heart, because he wanted his treatment of Kiba to be pure, but his instincts kept telling him to forget the semantics and just enjoy the view.

Maybe Naruto would discover that his feelings weren't actually all that deep, and maybe he'd discover that they were strikingly true. Did it really matter? He felt them in his heart, no matter their source. They'd taken some type of root in his body, and that was true enough, wasn't it? Whatever he felt was truly there when it was there, no matter where it came from. That was really all he needed to compel himself to continue being whatever it was that Kiba wanted him to be, in whatever way was the most satisfying for them both. And right now, being this close to Kiba was all that Naruto found satiating at all.

The truth of the matter was that Kiba was all Naruto even had at this point. What kind of idiot would push that away? Sasuke. That was who, and Naruto wanted to be nothing like that heartless bastard. No, he'd stay. He'd embrace this for what it was—simple, easy, heartwarming—and he'd let it be. He only hoped that this wouldn't end up doing more harm than good.

**~ ( >^.^)> <(^.^<) ~**

"Naruto!" Ino hailed as she spotted him and Kiba seemingly idling nearby. The blond was murmuring something in Kiba's ear, making the brunet laugh, but he lifted his head up and waved at his friend in acknowledgment.

"Coming Ino~" Naruto called back warmly.

He bent back to finish talking in Kiba's ear even as they stepped into motion. When he pulled back, Kiba looked sideways at him brightly, nudging him in the side and grinning. Naruto grinned back sweetly.

"You guys aren't eating?" Ino asked as the two made their final approach.

They detached stares to regard their friends. Sakura, Lee, Shikamaru, and Chouji all looked up at them expectantly.

"No," Naruto said nonchalantly. He'd grown used to not eating. It wasn't hard to come up with excuses why anymore.

Kiba glared at his companion sideways though. "Yes," he corrected.

Naruto shot Kiba a sheepish glance. He should have seen that coming. Kiba had been on his ass about eating an awful lot lately. Since he and Kiba had been exploring the sufficiency of an emotional bond for a bijuu, Naruto had slowly—very, very,  _very_  slowly—been regaining his appetite. And Kiba had been patient, praising him for the work he'd done as opposed to chastising him for what he hadn't. Ever since things had changed between them though, Kiba had become an almost annoyingly consistent menace about Naruto's eating habits. Naruto never got really angry with Kiba, because he could feel the purity behind the pestering, but it was still getting sort of tiresome. Wasn't he doing enough by eating at all?

Naruto knew somewhere inside that this was really just Kiba's way of compensating for his insecurities. With the new relationship between them now almost 2 months old, Kiba was probably just disheartened by how slow Naruto's progress was still going. He seemed better in every way, except that one. Kiba had probably been expecting Naruto to bounce back as easily as he did in other areas, which was a reasonable expectation. So he was simply confused about why Naruto still wasn't eating, and it made him insecure that his bond, apparently, wasn't strong enough to make that part of the blond return in earnest too.

Kiba just wanted to be enough for Naruto on his own. He wanted to be all the sustenance that Naruto would ever need. Naruto found this supremely endearing, and Kiba really was extremely fulfilling on his own, but Naruto just couldn't help it if his appetite refused to return. He just didn't want to eat, and he knew that Kiba was taking that as some sign that Kiba wasn't enough. In an attempt to reject those insecure feelings, Kiba had taken to doing his damnedest to remedy the issue. His solution? Stuff Naruto relentlessly. Naruto had yet to find a gentle way to assure Kiba that there was no need to be so overbearingly insecure.

"In fact, Naruto is gonna get us something now," Kiba added, looking at Naruto expectantly. "Right?"

Naruto wanted to sight despondently, but he smiled instead. "Right."

He dropped his bag and covertly touched Kiba's hand, brushing his fingers against the palm hanging loosely at Kiba's side, before grinning at everyone and heading boisterously off toward the Student Union. He almost immediately ran in to a random guy he had a class with later in the day and they began talking, the guy changing course to accompany Naruto to the building where he'd purchase their food. Kiba had to smile at how easily Naruto made friends. Despite the food issue, it was good to see him returning to himself to fully in ways like that. He watched Naruto talk animatedly with his friend until his figure became to small to identify through the light cover of the trees enclosing their eating area.

Since Spring was in full swing and Summer—and, inevitably, the end of the year—was rapidly approaching, the group had chosen to relocate themselves outside for their lunch gatherings. They'd found this small enclosure of young trees hidden discreetly away from the bustle of students entering and exiting the Student Union but not so far away that they felt excluded from the campus happenings. Their spot was just off the side of the main courtyard, which was lined in old, large trees. Thus, while the trees directly encircling them were small and sparsely leafed, the taller ones behind them kept the area fairly shaded. Not so much that it would get chilly on the colder days, but just enough to keep them from overheating on the days where the sun shone bright.

With Naruto's figure gone from sight, Kiba returned his attention to his friends, who had all gone back about their business amicably. Except for Sakura. She was staring up from her spot in the soft grass, watching Kiba with a weird expression.

"What?" Kiba asked as he set his bag beside Naruto's and sat down too.

Sakura shrugged, though there was no nonchalance to her attitude at all. "You two seem quite smitten with each other."

It'd taken some time after deciding to shift their relationship for Naruto to become comfortable with publicly touching Kiba in more than friendly ways. He'd slowly elevated from slinging an arm around Kiba's shoulder to wrapping it, instead, around his waist. Only in the past few days alone had Naruto grown confident enough to go so far as to touch Kiba's bare skin. That little hand touch had been the closest thing to something as affectionate as hand-holding at all. It was only a matter of time before their friends picked up on the subtle cues and expressed their curiosity. In truth, not even Kiba was sure what he and Naruto were supposed to call each other, but he was going to stand by whatever that relation was firmly.

"And if we are?" Kiba replied, inclining his chin slightly and silently informing Sakura that he was not afraid of her challenge.

Sakura's body tensed slightly, as if she were returning the subliminal challenge too. She didn't get a chance to respond though, because Lee took it upon himself to react to Kiba so dramatically that both Shikamaru and Chouji, previously too preoccupied to care what Sakura and Kiba were talking about, became interested in the conversation too.

"Oh! You two are engaging in the youthful union of love!" Lee declared, making Kiba blush slightly. "The only thing I must say is that you should be careful and safe," Lee instructed, nodding his head seriously at Kiba. "When you—"

Everyone could sense things going in a very uncomfortable direction, so they all pitched in on shutting the man up before he could say anything too inappropriate or embarrassing.

"Woah!" Ino piped up.

"Lee!" Sakura admonished simultaneously.

Chouji laughed in amusement, "Yeah, no one wants to hear about that, buddy."

Shikamaru patted Lee's shoulder, shaking his head. "Just let this one go Lee."

"What?" Lee asked innocently. "I only meant to counsel him about the throes of passion between two—"

"Okay!" Kiba cut in quickly, waving his hands at Lee to shut the man up. "How about we talk about that in private some time?" he suggested.

Lee shrugged. "You guys can be very weird at times," he mumbled.

Everyone looked at him incredulously, even as he went about casually eating his lunch again, seemingly none the wiser to their gaping stares.

"Thanks Lee," Kiba said awkwardly, wishing to show appreciation for Lee's attempt to be supportive. Even if he tended to word things very weirdly, Kiba was thankful that Lee was at least trying to show some solidarity.

Lee nodded and smiled brightly, and then Kiba looked back at Sakura. She was already over Lee's weirdness—in fact, everyone was—and had taken to toying with her food idly. She might not have addressed the subject of Naruto again, but Kiba just couldn't leave it be, not with such a negative attitude about it radiating from her body. He disliked the atmosphere she put around Naruto's name, and he wanted to squash it here and now.

"Are you gonna question Naruto forever?" Kiba asked, annoyance clear in his tone. "He's not a psychopath y'know."

Sakura looked up from her food at Kiba, vacancy morphing into a very serious expression. "He did disappear for a while with no explanation," she pointed out.

"He came to school," Kiba countered.

"Yeah, but we never saw him outside of class," Sakura retorted. "Like he suddenly got too good for us."

"You know that's not the case!" Kiba quietly exclaimed.

"Do I?" Sakura rebutted. "Maybe that's not what's up, but  _something_  is up and I don't like not knowing what it is. He was acting really strange before just cutting us off to. What about when he got that really bad wound but refused to let me even see it? Yeah, I'm not doctor, but I just wanted to tell him whether or not he should get it checked out seriously. He wouldn't even let me do that! Isn't it weird to not trust your friends that way?"

"You hardly knew him then," Kiba pointed out.

"So?" Sakura scoffed. "I still don't like it! And I don't even wanna get started on whatever the hell happened with him and Sasuke," she added exaggeratedly.

"What's Sasuke gotta do with anything?!" Kiba snapped.

"Hah!" Sakura barked. "You can't be serious!" she exclaimed. "The way they acted together. They way they both fell off the grid at the same time. You know Sasuke doesn't even come to school anymore, right? He's dropped out, and Naruto practically did too! You don't think there's something going on between them that you don't know about?"

Seeing the words really dig at Kiba's composure, Ino jumped in. "She's just worried about you is all. None of us want you to get hurt, even if that means we have to argue against Naruto's integrity."

Kiba scoffed, crossing his arms haughtily. "I've known Naruto  _and_  Sasuke longer than all of you," he pointed out. "I know what's happening in their lives even if you don't. "

"Then tell me," Sakura demanded. "If you don't want me to be so critical, explain it to me."

"It's not my business to tell."

"Whatever," Sakura said sharply, looking down to scowl at her food again. "If you're gonna bitch about me being a good friend, then I won't be a friend at all."

Kiba was just about to launch into a tirade about how shitty a friend to Naruto she was being when the devil himself made his presence known.

"I have returned," Naruto said brightly.

With the focus mostly shifting to Naruto and away from Sakura, Ino leaned in a whispered something in the woman's ear. Sakura just shrugged the blonde off her shoulder irritably and grumbled, "Shut up."

When Ino resigned to leaving Sakura be, she saw Kiba watching her and smiled sadly, shrugging helplessly.

Naruto's only greeting was a distracted wave from Chouji and a half-hearted grunt from Shika, who was playing some game on his phone intently and had been pointedly refusing to engage in the conversation about Naruto at all. He listened, but quietly so. Naruto could sense that everyone was feeling awkward with how to shift from the tense mood Sakura had created to greet him naturally, so he just pretended he didn't know what was going on and used his bright energy to lift them all up.

Of course, Naruto hadn't missed what had transpired while he was gone. He was even able to eavesdrop on some of the conversation once he'd exited the Student Union building and some of the din had died down. He was resolved to be unfazed by it though, and he wanted to encourage Kiba to do the same. He sat down cross-legged beside Kiba, close enough for his knee to constantly be touching the brunet. When Kiba finally acknowledged his return, Naruto smiled softly and handed the man his food, lingering after the styrofoam box was taken to brush Kiba's hand and then knee in turn to silently urge the man to relax.

Naruto took it on as his duty to smooth the mood between his friends, since it was he who always seemed to be the cause of turbulence. He was able to tune into them all and immediately understand how to orientate himself to quickly shift them all back into a comfortable mood. Focusing on so many people at once kept him from being able to focus on any on person too deeply though, so he was unable to decipher the disturbance in Kiba's energy. The brunet was opening up to the light atmosphere that Naruto was bringing, laughing and talking when appropriate, but there was something niggling that would not smooth away. This bothered Naruto. He wanted to know what it was, to help make it go away, but he just didn't have the skill necessary to multitask that much yet. All he could do was try to be more affectionate throughout their meal in an attempt to placate his friend.

The rest of their time spent together passed with relative ease. Sakura's mood never lifted, but everyone was able to largely ignore her with Naruto constantly assessing their auras and making automatic accommodations to keep the atmosphere at ease. Still, though, Naruto was no expert at working people this way. This was among his first cracks at trying to take the energy he could feel around people and manipulate it, so it was no wonder that Ino kept getting slightly off track and trying to engage in conversation with Sakura again. Shika and Chouji were entirely unaffected by her bad mood, and Kiba was devoutly latching on to Naruto's lead, but neither Lee nor Ino could ignore her bristling attitude so easily.

Eventually, it just became too much for Ino to bear. It was clear to Naruto that the two of them were very close friends, even if they always seemed to be bickering. Ino couldn't help but be affected by Sakura, and she decided that she simply didn't like the mood anymore. Not knowing what she could possibly do to shift Sakura's spirit, she decided to just leave. She softly announced that she had something to do before her next class and took a quick leave. Moments later, Lee suddenly had something important to do too. Ino paused, having heard Lee's announcement that he was leaving, and waited for the man to fall in step with her.

When Sakura finally stopped scowling at the ground, she caught a glance of sad commiseration between the two before they turned their backs and simply left. Sakura's glare as they retreated slowly melted into an expression of disbelief, as if she couldn't believe they were honestly upset with her. Her gaze flickered to Naruto after a long moment, but the blond was already watching her expectantly. He silently assured her that, yes, he knew why they were leaving and, no, it would do her no good to just let them go with. Eventually, Sakura sighed irritably and stood, grabbing her bag to rush after her friends.

"Wait for me!" she called out to them, and their obliged.

Before leaving though, she turned back to Naruto, who'd already turned his attention to Kiba. She flicked him on the side of the head, gaining his attention once more.

"Call me later, okay?" Sakura requested. "I wanna hang out, just you and me."

Kiba shot her a warning glare but she paid it no mind. Naruto could feel it emanating from Kiba heavily, so he reached over and casually touched Kiba's knee in comforting. Sakura's eyes darted to the contact, but Naruto didn't back down in any way. If this was Sakura's problem, then she'd have to get used to it, because Naruto wasn't going to halt everything with Kiba on the account of her doubts.

When her eyes darted back to his, he just smiled and nodded. "Sure thing Sakura."

Sakura was clearly satisfied with Naruto agreeing, but she also wasn't sure how she felt about that gesture toward Kiba. In the end, all she could do was turn and walk away. Kiba looked over his shoulder to watch her go, narrowing his eyes and almost cursing her aloud for how easily she melted back into an amiable persona as she approached Lee and Ino, slinging her arms around both their shoulders. The energy between the three shifted so easily that it pissed Kiba off. Why was she so hell bent on muddling up the atmosphere when Naruto was around? What was her fucking problem?

Naruto could feel Kiba's unease, so he leaned in close and whispered, "Sneak away with me."

Kiba detached his blazing gaze from Sakura to look at Naruto, who was so close that their noses brushed as Kiba turned his head. He was powerless to deny, so he just smiled and nodded agreeably. Chouji was none the wiser and Shika was totally unconcerned with their happenings, but Naruto opened his mouth to voice an excuse for their leaving anyway.

"Don't wanna know," Shika said dully, not even looking up from his phone.

"Huh?" Chouji asked, looking up from the food he'd been devouring.

Shikamaru waved him off dismissively and Chouji promptly returned his attention to his meal. Shika flicked his glance up at to friends only momentarily. "Just don't be late for class," he warned Naruto, since their next class was together.

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto answered, pleased that at least the dynamic with Shika was always easy.

Naruto and Kiba then stood and grabbed their things. They carried their trash to the nearest trash bin and then Naruto set their course for the largely unused paths of the university that strolled through the more nature-oriented parts of the campus.

"Where we going?" Kiba asked.

Naruto looked at Kiba and smiled, taking his hand boldly and intertwining their fingers. "To a safe place."

Kiba raised a questioning brow. "What's that mean?"

Naruto's smile turned into a mischievous grin. "You'll see," he said, shrugging as they crossed into the mouth of the path.

Nature slowly closed in around them and hid nearly all traces of the urban city they were really standing in. After a couple minutes of content silence, at least on Naruto's behalf, Kiba finally spoke.

"Are you really ready for this?" Kiba asked softly, looking at Naruto as if the answer were the very core of his being.

Naruto looked over at Kiba. He'd expected this. Kiba had been ruminating since Sakura's talk with him and once Naruto freed himself of everyone enough to focus on Kiba again, it became clear what was plaguing the brunet. Naruto didn't have an answer for that, so instead he suddenly pulled Kiba off the path and into some tall shrubbery.

"The fuck?" Kiba questioned, raising his free hand to cover his face before he was pulled onto the other side of the greenery.

Naruto grabbed his bag before he could even make sense of where they were and pushed him up gently against the wall of a building that had been mostly hidden from the path by the surrounding foliage. If one looked up enough, they'd obviously see the building walls. But the path still created the illusion of being in the woods, as if the buildings just beyond the relatively dense greenery didn't actually exist.

Kiba automatically recognized that they were very adequately hidden, so no one would stumble upon them easily. Still, he was a bit uneasy when Naruto zoned in on his neck and started kissing feverishly, feeling that the area was still too public for such intimacy.

"Naruto," Kiba complained in quiet worry.

"Hmm," Naruto hummed in acknowledgement, finishing his path and claiming Kiba's lips before the other could really launch any complaints.

Kiba could only melt into the embrace after that, and it became very heated very quickly. Try as he might, Naruto felt hard pressed to suppress the sexual beast that had been rising in him lately. Much as he wanted to be slow and careful with Kiba, there was always this need that reared its head. It was a hunger that had nothing to do with his lovelust. He was just ridiculously horny.

When Naruto's fingers slipped under the hem of Kiba's shirt, the brunet whimpered softly, feeling a slight shock pass between them. "Naruto," he murmured softly, turning his head just enough to disengage their lips. "Pause," he breathed. "Please."

Naruto groaned, nuzzling back into the man's neck and nipping. "Talk to me," he invited. "I'm listening."

"Naruto, I... just..." Kiba paused, panting. "I can't focus."

"S'okay," Naruto whispered. He reached down to grab one of Kiba's thighs and lifted it slightly as he nestled Kiba's other thigh between his own two and pushed forward with purpose. "I hear you anyway," he murmured, his second hand gripping Kiba's hip firmly as he rolled his hips. "There's nothing to feel insecure about," he promised, lifting his lips to nip at Kiba's ear and causing the brunet to whimper in defeat. "Isn't it clear how much I want you?"

Kiba's rising desire halted. Was that what this was? Kiba should've known.

Naruto had become able to read him seamlessly, almost as if he were in Kiba's actual mind. Kiba knew that bijuu had psychic tendencies. They could tear apart the past, present, and future as they wished. If Naruto tried, he could read anybody's mind. Kiba hadn't realized that Naruto was progressing so quickly in his abilities. Or maybe he was just so close to Kiba that something like that came naturally.

That was the problem though. Kiba didn't know! He didn't know how truly close they were, and Naruto knew that too. This was his way of trying to reassure Kiba. This was his solution, but that sort of irked Kiba. Instead of giving Kiba the emotional reassurance he wanted, Naruto thought something as fleeting as physical touch could do it. Naruto felt the shift in Kiba's energy and sighed, stilling himself and letting his head drop to Kiba's shoulder.

"I want you for more than your body."

"I know," Kiba said surely.

"You just don't think  _I_  know," Naruto pointed out.

Kiba sighed, taking Naruto's head in his hands and guiding it so that they could lock eyes. He shook his head solemnly. "No, I don't."

"How can I prove it to you?" Naruto asked earnestly.

For a long pause, Kiba thought about his answer. Naruto knew it was coming before it did. "Eat," Kiba said simply.

Naruto said nothing. He just remained totally silent. That was the one thing he couldn't do.

Kiba sighed, looking away. "I know it. You won't."

"I  _can't_ ," Naruto corrected. "Kiba, I can't control my appetite."

"You've been getting better in every other way but that," Kiba pointed out, sounding defeated.

"So what?" Naruto argued. "What the hell does me being hungry have to do with us?"

"It means you're not you!" Kiba exclaimed softly. He looked back into Naruto's eyes. "You aren't healing. It kinda hurts me to be with you when I know you aren't even really you yet. For all I know, this is just lovelust gluing you to me."

Naruto had to recognize that such an idea could be true. Truly, this whole thing could be because of lovelust, but he wouldn't say that out loud. Hell no. That'd just shatter what little stability they'd built together. He had already resigned to letting this just be what it was, so he wasn't gonna ruin it by opening his mouth. Not yet. It'd only just begun.

"What should I do, Kiba?" Naruto reiterated. "Give me something I can actually complete."

Kiba frowned. "There's only one thing you can do, Naruto."

Naruto's eyes grew hard and he pulled away from Kiba, stepping back and saying, "No." His voice took on a serious, low tone.

"Then you can't be with me," Kiba said. He could see the fall in Naruto's eyes, paired with a defeated slump in his posture as he covered his eyes with his hands and tried to rub the frustration out.

"You would beckon him here?" Naruto asked, looking up at Kiba again.

"To figure out your true feelings, yes," Kiba said softly. "You need to know, Naruto."

"No!" Naruto snapped. "I know what I feel now. Isn't that enough?"

"But you don't know how true it is," Kiba argued exasperatedly.

"It's as true as I feel it!" Naruto exclaimed.

Kiba paused before suggesting softly, "Or is it as true as  _I_  feel it?"

Naruto growled in frustration and turned his entire body away, putting his hands on his hips and kicking at the ground idly as he tried to squash the irritation in his body and think of a productive way to mend this fracture between them. Kiba was sure though. There was only one way to fix what had been broken between him and Naruto, and it was nothing Naruto could do on his own. It was something Naruto had to do with with...

"Sasuke," Kiba murmured, not at all surprised by the way Naruto snapped his head toward him sharply, "come to me."

"What're you doing?!" Naruto practically yelled.

Before the words even fully left Naruto's mouth, their privacy had been stolen away. Naruto clenched his jaw tightly, the look in his eyes darting noncommittally between betrayed, hurt, and surprised. Naruto tried to ignore the unwanted presence behind him—Sasuke had come so eagerly,  _too_  eagerly—to focus on Kiba, but his entire being couldn't help to gravitate that way. Hid body moved on its own, turning and twisting and pulling him into Sasuke. His eyes wavered, shifting to glance at the man in his peripheries despite how much he tired to keep focusing on Kiba.

Kiba didn't need to see more. He was nothing special—just a measly human surrounded by the supernatural—but he didn't need to be anything unique to understand that there was huge unfinished business between Sasuke and Naruto. Even as Naruto consciously tried to detach himself from Sasuke, the raven pulled at Naruto's being with an invisible force. Not only was it clear that Sasuke still wanted Naruto, and was staking quite the possessive claim against Kiba too with his hard eyes, but it was clear that Naruto had never been ready to move on from Sasuke either. What he and Kiba had been doing was avoiding, but Naruto could not avoid something that was thrust in his face.

As Sasuke stood behind the man Kiba had thought he'd come to love, there was no questioning the fact that Naruto was not open for the taking. He had been taken a long time ago, and Kiba had never really even had him in the time between. To stay here was just torture at that point, so Kiba grabbed his bag to swiftly go.

"Kiba! Wait!" Naruto exclaimed, slightly shocked but mostly annoyed when something stopped him from crossing the threshold of greenery after his friend. He turned and yanked his wrist free of Sasuke's grip.

"Let him go," Sasuke said nonetheless.

Naruto's eyes slit into a narrow glare. "Let him be hurt? Let him be alone?" He scoffed. "No."

Again, he turned to hurry up and leave. But, again, Sasuke had stopped him before he could go. This time, he couldn't yank his hand free, though he did put quite a bit of force into the attempt at escape.

"Let him find peace," Sasuke corrected.

Naruto stopped his wriggling lone enough to snap, "What's that mean?!" before starting right back up again.

Knowing Naruto's anger to be a muffle for his pain, Sasuke said softly, "His feelings for you are about as honest as yours are for him."

"How would you know?!" Naruto snarled, refusing to look at Sasuke's face again, if only to hide the ever-intensifying emotion seeping onto his own.

Sasuke sighed, stepping forward and attempting to gently lift Naruto's chin so that their eyes could meet. Of course, Naruto jerked his face out of reach and turned his back on Sasuke entirely, though his hand was still caught in the man's grip. His free hand was clenched at his side in a fist, his shoulders trembling.

"You two weren't meant to be. Trust me, Naruto," Sasuke said calmly, trying to be gentle with his wording.

"Trust  _you_?" Naruto laughed, though his voice was tight and restrained. "You're the last person I could trust, Sasuke." He paused for a second to be confused by all the emotion he felt in his body, likely originating from more than one being.

"What should I do?" Sasuke asked. He released Naruto's hand, which Naruto just let fall limply at his side. Thinking this vulnerable moment could be his doorway back into Naruto's life, Sasuke added, "Direct me, Naruto."

Without pause, Naruto replied, "I want you to fuck off and go."

_To be continued..._


	20. Recovery

**Moving Memories**  
20: Recovery

**~ ( >^.^)> <(^.^<) ~**

I don't think I need to explain how extremely anxious I was having to face Kiba after Sasuke. As expected, it was almost impossible for me to look at him without wanting to break down into tears from how bad I felt about everything, and his emotion made it really hard to keep myself together too. In the end, the process was simple. I explained myself to him, he explained himself to me, and that was that. We're so similar that things between us usually go pretty smoothly. Then again, those same similarities can cause some negative friction between us too. But we manage.

I'm not gonna say reverting back to a friendship where we don't make-out every day is easy, because it's not. But we're about as close as we can be under the circumstances. We'll be awkward and treat each other weirdly for a while, but that'll eventually get old and then all will be right in the world again.

As for Sasuke, I've come to accept the fact that I do wanna return to him, and that it's okay for me to want that. I want him back in my life. Not today and not tomorrow, but someday. It's been a few weeks and I've seen neither hide nor tail of him, but I couldn't let how I really felt about that show at first. I pretended I was alright. In fact, I pretended I was happy, as if the shallow complacency me and Kiba created hadn't waned at all.

Refusing to acknowledge my resurfacing desire for Sasuke might've just been me acting stubborn. Or maybe it was just me being afraid. But I'm willing to bet it was a bit of both. I just didn't wanna go running back to him so soon, and I think there were alotta reasons for that. The biggest, most pressing reason I kept pretending I wasn't affected by the last day we spoke is that the timing just wasn't right. It still feels off, so I keep running myself in circles until it's not.

If I'm being honest with myself, I can't stop thinking about him and... missing him. Beneath all my sad attempts at hating Sasuke, I actually have little memories of us pocketed that I regularly return to. A thought to fall asleep to, an image to lay down with at night, a memory to dwell on when I'm alone—I find myself thinking about Sasuke tirelessly. It's obsessive. I keep trying to ignore that obsession, but that, of course, only makes it worse. I thought about him before, yes, but not like this. And once things heated up with me and Kiba, I thought about Sasuke even less, if at all.

Oh, who am I kidding? I did say I was being honest with myself, so let's be honest. Nothing really changed at all.

Maybe I don't actually think about him any more than normal. Maybe the thoughts have just become more pressing to me. Maybe I was always thinking about him this much and just not knowing, or letting myself accept it. For a while there, I was running on mere basics. I didn't let myself think much about anything except getting through the day ahead of me. And once that phase receded, it was replaced by the Kiba stage. At that point, I think that, rather than not thinking about Sasuke at all, I was just replacing him with Kiba in my head. That's sorta sick, but I know Kiba was doing the same between Gaara and me. We both misused each other, but we were both willing too.

But let's be forthright. I've already recognized the whole addicted to lovelust incident as something in particular, and I think that same something will describe my phase with Kiba too: a distraction. Sasuke was never really replaced by these things. He was just eclipsed. I simply turned my attention elsewhere and pretended he didn't exist. Sasuke never truly left my mind. Even if it was me pushing him into dark corners where I could ignore him, he was an ever-present phantom in the shadows of my head.

So, really, what changed?

I was just pretending to hate him because it was the easy thing to do. Yet, it's so difficult to do anything but want him at the same time. It was more difficult still to want him when I knew I just... wasn't ready for him yet. I wasn't ready for his face, or his voice, or his presence, and certainly not his love. So I guess my solution was to just act like I wasn't longing for him the way I am. But no matter how much I act on the outside, I can't avoid the truth on the inside. But I don't really want to, do I? Since we're being frank, let me also face the fact that I was never really glad Sasuke was gone. So, then, why was I pretending I was?

As much effort as I put into this facade, it was as transparent as a glass wall. Kiba saw through it. I know that. And, dear god, it made me feel guilty.

He knows that the whole change he helped me complete was shallow at best, and that it's all but completely expended itself from my body. I wasn't emotionally invested in it before, and the lack of investment has only multiplied about a billion times after seeing Sasuke. My energy levels and attitude really did incline once I turned my attention from my blood bonds to Kiba. Can't hide that truth. My health went nowhere though. My body regained some weight and my skin and hair stopped looking so... dead. But those were just physical changes, and weak ones at that. Emotionally and mentally, I was a fucking wreck.

Kiba knew that all along, from the very beginning. Sasuke made him see that he was just living in a fantasy by believing he could heal me though.

These aren't things Kiba has never known. They're things he knowingly ignored, things I ignored too. We were forced to see these things in the plain light of day by Sasuke, but it's hurting Kiba way more than me. He had to watch me parade around like a jackass and pretend I was still in the state of mind I was when I decided to settle with him, but I wasn't and I'm not. He saw me,  _had been seeing_  me, struggle to not accept Sasuke with open arms. Witnessing me reboot for a man he was trying to replace not so long ago isn't easy for him.

At one point, he and I were in silent solidarity. We were struggling through the same thing, losing the most precious thing to our beings at the time. We each recognized that we respectively came in close second to that lost love, so we rashly decided we could at least settle for being satisfied with each other. Kiba began to want more though. I wasn't doing enough to keep him distracted. He wanted deeper, more genuine love from me. He wanted something as intense as I think only Gaara could provide. And when I couldn't give that to him, he demanded I cut the ties holding me back. He might not have discarded the idea completely, but I think he let his heart believe I would choose him over Sasuke. I couldn't though.

Then, as we each tried to re-accept reality, we had to split ways. We were looking at each other from different spaces, and that meant he'd been isolated from the one thing he'd been looking to for support all along: me.

I don't have to go back to struggling with the fact that Sasuke is gone from my life because Sasuke is here. He's patiently waiting for me to let him back inside. Gaara is nowhere to be found, and he won't be found. He doesn't wanna be. He's never coming back to Kiba, and I know that. So Kiba watched me drag my feet toward Sasuke at a snail's pace, and that infuriated and upset him. He was infuriated because because he'd give anything to have a chance with Gaara again, but he was upset too because he really could see himself being comfortable with me. Sasuke re-staked his claim on my heart, though, and took that possibility away.

I see the torture of loneliness and rejection eating him alive more and more by the day, and I wanna comfort him.  _God_ , I wanna comfort him so badly. I wanna kiss away every ounce of his pain—and, yes, I mean that in a very intimate way. I don't wanna hug him like I'd hug a friend. I wanna lay him down in bed and make him scream until all his frustration has passed. I wanna caress him until his tear ducts are dry when he cries. I wanna de-stress him until he does nothing but whimper and sigh contentedly. I wanna take away everything he's holding inside with my lips, my breath, my body.

It's because I don't even know  _how_  to touch him in a friendly way anymore that I can't offer him any comfort. I don't know that I'd even be helpful though. I mean, how can we interact so quickly after our "break up" and  _not_  feel drawn to each other that way? It's natural that we need time to, y'know, adjust our minds. I know I personally needed time to start looking at Kiba as my friend again and not my fuck buddy.

Sasuke didn't catalyze revelations for just Kiba though. He made me see some things too.

For one, I had to realize that I was being reckless. Even though I know I was doing a good thing turning my life around with Kiba, I was wrong to take advantage of my best friend like that. Kiba was just so willing, like the vampires I'd peppered around me. He woulda done anything for me, but it was wrong because it wasn't love that was driving him on. It was loneliness, sadness, need. As for me, it was just lust, lovelust.

Beyond that, I realized something that was obvious and, yet, still so elusive. Kiba and I both recognized throughout our excursion together that despite how much better I seemed to be getting, one thing never changed. I had no growth in appetite. I realized way back when Kiba and I were just becoming a thing that my appetite was the one thing I could honestly attribute to the depression over losing Sasuke. As for everything else, depression was an excuse to not address it. In any case, I realized it then and I had to realize it again.

I was miserable.

Sasuke reminded me of what a true bond felt like, but that wasn't a flowery process. It was terrible. I had to do alotta hurting. I had to stop rejecting Sasuke in my mind, which meant realizing how painfully absent he was from my life. It was miserable to constantly recognize such a strong bond go completely untouched. It's almost like having blue balls, but in the heart.

By making me recognize that I was living in a fantasy, Sasuke also made me see myself from a point of view I'd been rejecting. He made me stop and look at what I'd been doing. I consciously acknowledged that the blood bonds I'd been exploiting were just a fucked up way of coping for me. Why I chose to become a certified whore to avoid my pain, I don't know; but I had to realize what'd become of me. I stopped sleeping with vampires, but I just reset my predatory sights onto Kiba instead. No matter the phase—the blood bond phase or the Kiba one—I was feeding my own monster inside.

My blinders crumbled at my feet. It wasn't so much what Sasuke said though. It was what he made me feel that was really illuminating for me. He touched me and I just felt his entire being rush into me. I saw myself from his perspective, from the view of someone who loves and wants to protect me but can't because I'm making my own self my enemy. Accepting these realizations would be a struggle for anyone, so of course it was difficult to break the facade I'd been perpetuating. I was too scared to strip away all those fake layers I'd put up because I knew that what was inside would be raw and probably pretty ugly.

Sasuke didn't cause only Kiba suffering. He caused me some pain too.

He drove the spike of reality through both our chests, and we both had our own struggles with coping. Kiba wants to ease my silent suffering just as much as I wanna comfort him. I've seen him wiping the fake smile off my face in his dreams, and he lets me just be broken in his arms, and he mends me in whatever ways he can. And when he wakes, he feels his sadness heavily enough for the both of us, because I'm too busy pretending I'm not sad at all. Kiba wants to care for me. I sense that desire all over every inch of him, but I haven't made any effort to redefine the boundaries between us. He's too afraid to put hands on me, but that's good, because he should be, because I'm afraid to put hands on him too.

I know what you must be thinking. Why did I let myself suffer when Sasuke was right there waiting to have me? I've come to terms with the fact that I really want Sasuke back, as much as I know he wants me. But I also had to come to terms with the fact that I just wasn't ready for him. I'm still so broken, but I could sense how amazingly whole he's become. He's changed so much that I was no longer worthy of him. I had so much to improve before I could feel at par with him again. As it was at that point, if he were to touch me, I'd feel like I was tainting him.

So what could I do? How could I become worthy of Sasuke again?

The answer was hidden at first, but a tentative conversation with Kiba cleared it right up. He was bold enough to address my lack of contact with Sasuke. He asked me if I wasn't waiting too long to reconnect with him. I think, in all honesty, he just can't fathom why I'm keeping myself away from Sasuke for so long. He himself would be back at Gaara's side in an instant, so he can't understand why I'm dragging my feet.

"I'm scared," I told him.

He shrugged. "You were scared with me in the beginning too," he pointed out. "You got over it."

At that point, I was speechless. Kiba was right. I'd been hesitant about beginning anything with Kiba because I was afraid I'd end up exploiting him... like I did. I did get over it though. And I got over it because I realized I could use him as a stepping stone in getting to where I really wanna be, which is relying on no bonds at all. I  _have_  to get to that space if I'm gonna be with Sasuke again. There just isn't room for anyone else. Sasuke has to be my one and only, and I know that.

So that was how Kiba brought the solution to my mind. My bond with him was amazing, though still weak in comparison to Sasuke. Still, it was enough to replace a great deal of the blood bonds I'd made. That was step one, I'd say. He drew me away from rock bottom and made me realize that what I needed was not those bonds. At the time, what I needed was him, but now he's done all he can do for me. Just like those blood bonds had to one day be given up, he's gotta expire too.

No amount of what I'd been creating, even with Kiba, could ever heal my wounds or replace what'd vanished. All they ever did and could ever do was make me forget, but I couldn't just keep on forgetting forever. What I need now can't coexist with him. If the time was ever gonna come for me to make that final step toward total change, it's now. It's time for me to take this vitality I've managed to reclaim and use it to become an even better person. For myself, yes. For Kiba too. But mostly for Sasuke.

So the task began. Breaking all bonds and becoming myself again. For Sasuke.

The process is easy enough. I just think of the person and imagine myself closing a door or something symbolic like that. There's not really any physical indication that anything has changed, but I know inside that it has. I can feel in my soul that something's missing. But, in my case, they're just extra baggage anyway, things I won't actually miss.

Although, I must admit that true change hasn't been easy. What should I expect though? I'm an addict.

Beyond the physical aspects, there are emotional and mental aspects to lovelust. As a bijuu, I'm sorta programmed to crave multiple bonds, but I started looking beyond blood bonds to vampires. I started looking toward exploiting more emotional bonds too, because in my experience they've been more satisfying. It's clear that only one vampire is gonna satisfy me, but maybe just a few carefully selected humans could do the trick too.

You'd think that I'd be lead right back to Kiba's allure, but that wasn't really the case. I felt this deep need for more than even Kiba could give me. So, yeah, I wanted him, but I wanted more too. My prowess as the kyuubi has been no help in this area either, because I'm too good at wooing people. Lately, it seems like they just swoon for me. I have to fight that addicted frame of mind though, because I don't want fake love. I want the real kind.

Replacement love is outta bounds for me, but the real kind is sorta outta reach too.

With space in my heart freed up, I became painfully aware of how empty I really am without Sasuke. I want him here to fill the gaps the way no one else could ever replicate, so the suffering doubled. I became so torn up inside by my need for a man I couldn't yet accept into my life that I'm sure the smile on my face turned into a grimace, because everyone started treating me like a china doll. Even Sakura eased up on me, totally abandoning her lingering distrust of me. She stopped giving me the chase and, instead, turned to hold on tight, literally telling me that she was more worried about me losing myself again than she was about getting the right apology outta me.

Over just a couple nights, the work I'd been doing breaking bonds took its toll on my body. I started looking sick again. No, that's not even the word. More like totally emaciated.

My friends kept quiet about it, even though it was obvious that I wasn't okay. My guess is that Kiba assured them I was under control, which I was. For the first time in a long time, I was under control. I was actively battling the sickness. I knew that eating would strengthen me and make the lovelust wane. Once I begin neglecting my own health, my body craves bonds to pick up the slack and keep me from, y'know, dying. That's the physical part of the lovelust. So if I just eat, then my body won't be tricked into thinking it needs to make bonds. The problem was that I was still depressed though, so eating was still pretty difficult to do.

Despite his troubles, Kiba got me through that. He didn't give up on me. He saw me trying to fight. And even though it was hard to watch me fight myself so hard for Sasuke when I couldn't be bothered to do it for him too, he managed to get over himself and stand at my side. He did his damnedest to keep me healthy. If not for him, I might've been in a real bad condition. I wouldn't have let myself go back to feeding off bonds, but I might not have been able to motivate myself to eat quickly enough either. I coulda ended up in the hospital, or worse.

Kiba took care of me though. He cooks for me, talks to me, laughs with me, cries with me, looks at me and says nothing, looks away and says everything. Whatever I need, Kiba gives. He's the anchor he's always been.

Soon enough, the blood bond numbers declined to zero. Or, actually, I should say one, because there's one blood bond I'll never break. As for my other poison, Kiba... well... I think it's obvious that I won't be breaking that one. It's not a blood bond, but I learned how to use it like one. So, yeah, it's just as bad for my recovery to keep it lingering around, but how could I ever cut myself off from Kiba? It just ain't happening.

My struggle with him is learning to convert the bond back to what it'd been before I morphed it into something I could exploit. He and I've always had a bond. I don't need to break it. I just need to find the will to stop abusing it. Even though I've largely mastered my urges for him, we still try not to physically touch any more than necessary. I can see it in every facet of his being that it hurts him. Without Gaara, I became Kiba's source of peace. And now without me, he doesn't know what to do. I might've broken his heart a little bit, but he's still been a key part in my recovery, even in my recovery from him. I can say now that I'm pretty much fully recovered, and it's mostly thanks to him supporting me. I'm still putting the pounds back on, but it's been a full 180 if you ask me.

I'm almost ready for Sasuke. I feel one last thing pulling us apart, but I actually think the only way to solve that particular thing is by facing him. I've been selfish though, and Kiba has been selfless with me. Before I take this last step with Sasuke, I'm helping Kiba out. I won't let myself get lost in my heart while Kiba stands outside suffering on his own. If I can't touch him, then I need to find a way to help him otherwise. He figured it out for me, so I have to figure it out for him. I'm at the peak of my upward climb, but Kiba is starting to fall downhill. With me needing his support less and less, he's deflating. He's been keeping himself up for me, but now he's on the brink of just disappearing into nothingness.

His pain really started to show through again when we came home from class one day to see his things in boxes littered across the living room. On the coffee table lay a key and note explaining that whatever Kankuro and Temari hadn't judged to be a necessity was in a storage unit just a couple blocks away from us. Kiba spent the rest of that afternoon bawling shamelessly. Seeing all his things in my place like that was a real slap in the face to him. I know he'd been slowly acclimating to the idea of him being the one to leave Gaara, but he wasn't ready for the big step to happen so quickly. For the first time since he could remember, he was truly separated from Gaara. Moving his things out had been seriously symbolic to him. It, naturally, struck him where it hurt the most to feel such a finality settle between them.

It was heartbreaking for me to watch Kiba suffer so plainly, but I couldn't give my comfort. We both knew why, but that only added insult to injury. In the time since that event, I've seen no change in Kiba for the better. He's still struggling with the idea of leaving Gaara, perhaps with even more difficulty than before. It was one thing for him to slowly decide to leave, especially with me to distract him so well, but it was a whole other thing to basically be kicked out. Even though they've been completely ostracized from each other the whole time Kiba's been living with me, it seems like Kiba was holding on to a hope that things could still go back to how they used to be.

But Gaara isn't ever coming back this time. I know that without a doubt in my heart.

I know things between us are still too tender for me to do anything for him on my own, so I've formulated a plan, and it's ingenious really. I don't know how well it'll go over with everyone, but that doesn't really matter. I know Kiba will approve, so I just need to get Gaara on board too. It's perfect timing to put it into action, since we're about to finish classes for summer break and we'll need all that time for them to get back on their feet together. This is the one way I can conceive of reconciling the fracture between my friends. Gaara and Kiba are just nothing without each other. All I've gotta do now is actually get to Gaara, and that brings me to where we are now.

"Go home," Kankuro insists as he suddenly appears right in my face.

I barely have a chance to stop myself from running into him. "Dang, man! Don't just pop up like that."

Kankuro is in no mood for light conversation though. "Go home," he repeats flatly.

I sigh. Can't even get halfway there before being cut off. "How do you know I'm even heading to your building, huh?" I ask, even though I obviously am. "Is the buffer zone getting bigger? How far out are we now? What, a mile? I can't get within a mile of you guys?"

"Three," Kankuro corrects easily.

I'm shocked and slightly outraged for a moment, but I know what Kankuro is about to say so I don't really bother committing to either reaction.

"It's safer this way," Kankuro goes on, "and you know it."

I do.

"And beyond that, it's just cruel if you keep 'wandering' into our part of town," he adds.

"Cruel?" I repeat.

Kankuro pauses for a moment and then relaxes. I realize then just how tense he's been. He finally takes on the attitude of someone talking with a friend, and I'm thankful for that. I've missed having friends. "I don't want to watch my brother suffer, and your presence makes him suffer," he says. "I care for you, Naruto, but not more than I care for my family."

I nod. "Can't argue with that."

"No, you can't," he agrees, "so please just go home and stop trying to sneak around."

"But I can't," I reply. I feel sympathy for him, but he can't understand how important it is that I get to Gaara yet. I can see him deflate, and I know it's because he was hoping I'd be agreeable and just cooperate. But I won't.

"You've never even given me an honest reason for why you wanna be around," Kankuro points out, "so why should I humor you at all?"

"Good point," I reply, and I can see Kankuro is promptly confused. "But today," I go on, "I'm gonna tell you the truth." His expression turns wary. I think he's waiting for the catch. "But not before I tell it to Gaara." And there it is.

"Naruto," Kankuro groans.

I can tell he's tired of this, but I'll never tire. I'll get to Gaara one way or another. I can see Kankuro is at his wit's end, so I quickly continue talking.

"Just wait," I say. I pull my backpack off my back and unzip it, showing him what's inside. "Look. I have all this anti-venom stuff. I mean, I would survive an attack from a dozen vampires with this arsenal." I peer up at him and he seems to be contemplating the bag's contents intently. "And you know he won't be able to resist my commands if he does bite me," I add, hoping that'll be reassuring.

Of course, it's not. It causes Kankuro to snap his eyes to meet mine, burning in a way I've never seen them burn before. "Are you suggesting that you want to control my brother?" he asks, his voice dangerous. I've, clearly, struck a nerve that I didn't mean to.

"No!" I say quickly. "All I'm saying is that it's an added defense," I clarify. I pause as he thinks this over. He knows he can't argue with that though. "I'm prepared, Kankuro," I say after a second. "Please, just let me come this once. If what I have to say isn't enough for Gaara, then I'll never try again," I promise. And it's true. If this doesn't work, I know there's nothing I can do to save my friends.

The more he weighs the options, the more eager I start to feel until I'm lightly bouncing on the balls of my feet. Eventually, he concedes. It's, of course, with a sigh and an obvious look of "I'm gonna regret this", but it's a concession all the same. He gets all tense again and doesn't relax after that, no matter how much I try to make casual conversation. His mind is clearly preoccupied, so I eventually just stop trying. I think he's trying to prolong the inevitable as much as possible because he chooses to walk at a normal pace with me to the nearest bus stop. And when we get off two blocks down from the compound, he continues to walk me at a casual pace all the way to his building. I don't mind though. It gives me a chance to rehearse what I'm gonna say.

As the elevator takes us up the final stretch, Kankuro's incessant finger tapping against the wall pulls me from my thoughts.

I glance at him and sense tension in every line of his being, so I touch his shoulder gently. "Calm down."

He scoffs. "As if I could be calm." He looks over at me. "You know, he sensed you coming before even I did. That means he's becoming more sensitive to you, and there're only two reasons a vampire would become more sensitive to something. Either it's become dear to them, or it's become their prey. And I don't think you've become very dear to him." He pauses, as if giving me a moment for that information to really sink in. It does and my grip on his shoulder tightens slightly. Then, he adds, "You're lucky he told me you were approaching instead of just going off and killing you before any of us had a clue."

"But he told you in the end, right?" I point out. "That counts for something, doesn't it?"

Just then, the elevator dings. Kankuro cuts off conversation and pulls me behind his frame protectively as the doors open. I peer around his shoulder to see Gaara standing right there in the middle of the room, staring intently as we walk inside. Temari is standing at his side with one hand gripping his shoulder tightly. That makes me even more aware of how serious the situation is. Maybe being a bijuu puts me too much at ease. Yeah, if he bit me, I could, more or less, control him. But he could also rip out my throat before I have a chance to stop him, and I know that's what he wants to do right now. I sense it all around him. I've finally recognized the danger as I meet his gaze and my arrogance flees.

He looks scarier than I ever remember seeing him before. I feel a bit of fear, so Kankuro takes that as the cue for us to not get any closer. I end up bumping into his back when he stops because I'm so lost in Gaara's eyes, and not in a good way. At least the bump allows me to break the stare and clear my head before I'm too unsettled. The tension in the air literally seems to crackle as the silence stretches out, and I realize I'll have to start the encounter. I shift on my feet slightly and Kankuro thinks I'm getting sneaky, so he shifts to mirror me in case I'm trying to bypass him. I ignore that and, instead, open my mouth to speak.

"I'm sorry."

Gaara's expression is replaced with genuine surprise.

"Yes," I say, nodding, "I'm apologizing." I give him a second to process before going on. "I really thought about things, Gaara, and I realized that I've been looking at everything wrong. I've been looking at things like a human, and that was the stupidest, most basic mistake a person could make. With that perspective, I could never know what it's like to live like you."

The shock dissipates and his lips pull into a thin line.

"But I understand now," I continue. "I'm not here to tell you to go back to how you used to be, because I know I could never go back to who I used to be either. I realize now that it's just not fair to ask you for something like that. It's not fair to put that kinda pressure on you. Kiba and I," He struggles to not react to Kiba's name, but that in itself is a reaction. "—we both just thought you could change at will. We thought you could just... be human. But you're not, and I understand that now, because neither am I."

"Don't commiserate with me," Gaara suddenly says.

I'm surprised to hear him speak. I've been tuned into him, but his mind is so loud that I couldn't anticipate one of his thoughts actually jumping out his mouth. Part of that calamity is because reading minds is still new to me. I can only really get fractions and fragments from Gaara, and I'm only figuring it out by pairing it with the things I feel clouding up his aura. Beyond that though, I'm surprised to hear his voice sounding so... normal. Everything about him has seemed to have changed, but that voice confirms that he's still himself.

"I'm not a vampire," I agree, because I know that was the main reason why he expressed that particular thought. "I'm different, but suffering is not circumstantial. It can be anything. I don't know your lust, but I know mine, and I know what it means to suffer because of it. Don't try to lump yourself away as some special, unique case. All that does is give you room to pity yourself. You're not the first to struggle with this, Gaara."

"I know that!" he snaps.

"Maybe you do," I concede, "but you keep feeling like you're alone anyway, like you own the torch on suffering. No one could possibly know your pain. No one could possibly help. Nothing could ease this, right? That's what your feeling. I can sense it all over you."

This causes his eyes to narrow and his lips to pull into a snarl.

"That pisses you off," I point out, "but you're not mad at me. You're mad at your own self for feeling so irrationally. But let me tell you something, Gaara. That won't stop. I know that already. This will not get better. You and Kiba have a bond way too strong to just snap it like it's nothing."

I can see that the words hurt him, but he narrows his eyes into a glare to hide the pain. I go on more gently, trying to battle the anger he uses to mask the frailty he refuses to let show. As if everyone in this room couldn't sense it on their own.

"If I know anything, it's bonds," I go on. "I mean, I'm a bijuu. Bonds are sorta my specialty. You and Kiba have something too special to ignore."

"I don't wanna talk about Kiba," Gaara says curtly.

"He wants to forget," Kankuro adds. I realize he's looking at me over his shoulder again, so I shift my focus to him. "Let him forget."

It's a plea. I can see that Kankuro is prepared to grovel in a way that Gaara would never do. For his brother, I know that Kankuro would do anything. I understand that he wants to protect Gaara, but there are things that a person can't be protected from. Some things, you just have to brave.

"He can't," I say bluntly, because I know. I remember wishing for the very same thing, to be able to forget. "He can never forget. Once it's there, it's never gonna leave. I can dig into him. I feel his core. Can't you? Why are we so confused about why he isn't getting better? Am I really the only one using empathy here?"

No one says anything. They all think it's a rhetorical question, but it's not. It only takes a second for me to know that Temari and Kankuro  _can_  empathize with their brother. Of course they can. They're siblings. They just aren't addressing it, not really. They know it's there, but they're pretending it's not. I think it's because they themselves are too weak to witness their brother in such truly inescapable agony.

"He won't get better," I say frankly. "He'll never get better. I'm not even a vampire and I know that mating doesn't happen lightly, and it doesn't just stop when you want it to either."

I look at Gaara, really look at him, and I feel us connect. He sees me clearly. I know he does, because I literally feel my intentions seeping into him. If I'd had even a single brain cell to spare, I'd have recognized that I finally accomplished the whole trading thing. I'm giving Gaara my energy, but I don't pay attention to that in the moment. I've got bigger fish to fry.

Gaara stays silent, but there's shift in his energy that Kankuro and Temari both feel. Slowly, I taper the connection, because I don't really want him invading my personal bubble freely. When it cuts off, his eyes focus back on the present moment and so do mine.

"I know it sounds stupid," I say, because it really does. "—but there's a point," I add, because there really is.

"I see it," Gaara says simply, softly. After a moment, he adds, "We have to know how strong the bond is before I can make him my true mate."

I nod. I don't need to lay my plan out in black white, because Gaara has it in his head. He takes a moment to imagine the pros and the very bloody cons. He judges how much faith and trust he can invest in me, and then he nods at me in silence. And despite the fact that I'm about to have him chomp down into me, I feel relieved.

_To be continued..._


	21. A Change of Tides

"What's going on here?" Kankuro asked, jolting Naruto out of his private moment with Gaara.

The two snapped their eyes simultaneously to the elder.

"Does it matter?" Gaara asked. "I've agreed. That's that."

Kankuro turned his demand to Naruto. "What's going on?"

Naruto froze like a deer in headlights. He could see that Kankuro was playing no games. He wasn't just asking to know. He was demanding. But, on the other hand, Naruto could sense that Gaara was determined to keep the matter private. Why? He couldn't say, but Gaara was just as definitive on his stance as Kankuro, and that put Naruto in a very difficult position.

Thankfully, Gaara redirected the attention back to himself. "If it works, you'll see," he said simply.

"That's not enough for me!" Kankuro snapped, his eyes slitting into a glare.

"Oh well," Gaara said, shrugging.

Kankuro's glare only intensified and Naruto began to think he might actually snap on Gaara. But if he did, Naruto could understand why. He was scared silly, and reasonably so when he was none the wiser to what was happening with the people that he loved. But beyond that, he was recognizing something that, inevitably, put him on special alert. His influence as Gaara's elder was doing nothing in this moment. There had been a time when Gaara would cower beneath Kankuro's intolerant gaze, but that was no longer. Gaara wasn't backing down now.

As the eldest, it'd always been Kankuro's duty to watch over his siblings, and that included Sasuke. Though Sasuke had not considered anyone a part of his clan until Ren was born, they'd all considered Sasuke a part of theirs. Because Itachi hadn't been a vampire at the time, it was just natural that Sasuke fall into Kankuro's ranks. He became Kankuro's responsibility too. It was Kankuro's duty to guide his siblings, to ensure they carried on an honorable legacy for their family names. But that had to end eventually. That time had already passed with Temari. She was fully mature, and now she guided her own path. Of course, she still respected him in many ways, but she had the power in her hands to defy him should she choose. And he trusted her judgement enough to not butt heads with her.

The younger ones didn't have that freedom yet. Well, since Sasuke refused to even acknowledge Kankuro as some type of pseudo sibling, Kankuro had never really had all that much influence over him to begin with. Sasuke had been resigned to being his own boss since childhood, but then he wasn't a pureblood either. He'd been changed, so the instinct in him differed from that of the Sundama children. As for Gaara, who was a pureblood, the instinct to follow Kankuro's lead was ingrained into him. It was just a fact that vampires had raised their children this way since the very beginning. The eldest child was groomed to ideal standards, and then they were given the responsibility of any that came after them. The reasons for why could vary, but Kankuro had never been in the practice of questioning it. It was a part of their culture. He accepted it for what it was, and so did his siblings.

Gaara was reaching his maturity though. Within the next couple of years, he'd be fully grown. At that point, it would no longer be Kankuro's responsibility to guide him. Maybe Gaara was reaching his maturity early. Maybe the influence of being in such a crazed state for so long was making him unable to be tamed in the moment. Maybe he was just so resolved in his stance that he refused to let Kankuro control him on this one. The possibilities were plenty, but Kankuro's reaction would be all the same.

He felt totally put-off by the situation. With Temari, maturing had been easy. She'd slipped into adulthood silently and Kankuro had simply faded away, treating her as the equal she proved herself capable of being. She wasn't nearly as dramatic as Gaara. Gaara just had to complicate things to an amazing degree. How could Kankuro  _possibly_  be okay with Gaara taking charge of his own fate at a time like this? Maybe if Gaara were less delicate, less feral, less out of his damn mind, then Kankuro could rest easy. He couldn't trust his brother's judgement though, so fate had picked a damned time to give the man a taste of the freedom he'd soon be exercising.

Kankuro felt extremely uneasy in the moment, and it began to show. He recognized that he might have to actually put up a fight and assert his dominance in some ways that would not be pretty, so he began to act as edgy as an animal backed into a corner, as if he could spring at any moment. That concerned Naruto, because Kankuro had never been one to lose his composure.

Gaara stepped forward and Kankuro immediately crouched into a threatening stance. Naruto could see that he was still confused. He was unsure of  _why_  Gaara was approaching, but he did know that he wasn't going to let Gaara near Naruto. Everyone could feel his intention to be near Naruto. The reason why was still vague, but Kankuro didn't like the sound of the two being physically close to each other enough to interject at that fact alone.

Naruto could see the truth coming together in Kankuro's head. The idea that Naruto and Gaara might have agreed on Gaara biting Naruto crossed Kankuro's mind, but he just didn't think they'd do that... would they? Maybe they would. Then again, maybe they wouldn't. That would be supreme stupidity, but Kankuro was going to protect Naruto like that was the case anyway. And it was.

Seeing the tension rise to an almost unbearable degree, Temari chose to finally step in. She gripped Gaara's shoulder more tightly and tried to pull him back.

"Let's talk this out," she suggested. "Don't be so hasty with each other."

Gaara just snapped his shoulder out of her hold and continued forward. Getting the message clearly, Temari backed off. She wanted to be on Kankuro's side, but she wanted to be on Gaara's side too. She came to the same conclusions as Kankuro. Perhaps Gaara was simply reaching maturity. If that were the case, was it really her place to interject in the natural friction of the transition? Between her and Kankuro had been easy, but that didn't mean it would be so with Gaara too. She was put in an awkward position, so all she could do was step back and hope her brothers didn't take things too far.

"Do not touch him!" Kankuro snarled.

Reflexive to the tone of Kankuro's voice, Gaara hissed lowly, expressing his primal agitation and assuring Kankuro that he too was ready for a fight.

Naruto knew that this had to be done. No one understood, much like he'd anticipated they would react, but that didn't matter. Gaara saw the point, so this was going to happen one way or another. There was simply no point in Kankuro complicating something that he'd ultimately have to accept.

Naruto touched Kankuro's arm gently, enough to prompt the man to glance back at his face. Gaara shifted, though, and Kankuro's eyes snapped back. It was clear he would not let Gaara stray from his sight for too long, but Naruto knew he'd gained the man's attention anyway.

"Trust me," Naruto said softly, knowing no use would come of being forceful with his words. "I know what I'm doing."

After a long pause, Kankuro looked back at Naruto uncertainly.

"It'll be worth it in the end," Naruto assured.

At that point, Naruto recognized that he might be as desperate, if not more so, than Gaara to make this happen. He'd seen Kiba hurt way too much. In fact, he'd been an unwitting part of causing that hurt. Perhaps this was a way of repenting, but it was also out of pure love for his best friend. Naruto had seen a simple solution. Simple as it was, it was also controversial. If it was going to work out, it was imperative that he and Gaara take this step  _now_. There was no way anyone would let Kiba within ten miles of Gaara if they knew Naruto's scheming and had no surety that it would work out.

Naruto knew that things could never go back to how they were in the beginning, but they could come back around full circle to a good place again. None of them would be the same, some more changed than others, but they could reunite as better versions of themselves instead. And this time, they could get it right. They needed each other, and maybe it had always been Naruto's destiny to find this group of fractured beings and bring them back together. Maybe that was the whole point of him being born a bijuu. Funny how he was their natural enemy, and yet he was drawn to them in such a way anyway.

But fate worked in strange ways like that. Maybe this was even bigger than all of them. Maybe this was the start to something huge. Naruto couldn't say. He might have been destined for great things. Then again, maybe not. What he did know was that he could fix things here if only given the chance. Kankuro simply had to have faith.

The desperate yet confident plea buzzing in Naruto's aura did magical things. After staring at Naruto's appraisingly, but mostly in hesitation and concern, for a long while, Kiba finally relaxed his stance and stood upright again. Though he was still visibly tense and obviously extremely uncomfortable with the situation, he stepped aside so that Gaara could approach Naruto at will. Naruto nodded his thanks and smiled reassuringly, silently promising that things would turn out okay... even if he didn't know that to be exactly true. He had faith that it would be though.

And then it was just Naruto and Gaara. Just them two. They locked eyes and simultaneously approached each other. They stopped with a foot or so of space left between them and Gaara lifted his hand in silent expectancy. It was trembling, and Naruto knew it was because of his urges. Naruto didn't feel scared though, not with his bijuu instinct assuring him that he'd be okay. After all, he was created to withstand situations just like this. He had the power. He was in control.

Although, Gaara would have to take Naruto's power away in order for this to be considered a success. So, really, Naruto should have no control. That was the ideal outcome, so maybe there was grounds to be afraid. Naruto wouldn't let himself panic though. He couldn't. Even if the idea of a very nearly feral vampire about to taste his very tempting blood was terrifying, he wouldn't let fear grip his heart. He would need to be composed enough for the both of them, because Gaara could not be counted on to keep his cool.

Naruto placed his hand in Gaara's, his palm facing up. Gaara pulled, inadvertently making Naruto stumble off balance slightly and step toward him. He ignored Naruto though, simply picking an angle of attack and biting. Naruto immediately gave Gaara direction, but when he told Gaara to inject venom, the redhead didn't react to the demand visibly at all. Naruto began to feel a slight tingle in his arm anyway, so he knew he was being infected.

So that was that. They'd traded. Gaara had bijuu blood and Naruto had vampire venom, and that was all the ingredients necessary. Naruto realized right away that Gaara wasn't acting as he should though. Naruto wanted control. In a situation like this, the vampires always looked up at Naruto's face as soon as the connection was made. Always. They continued looking at him until he was gone or they were directed otherwise. Naruto always suspected that such behavior was because they wanted to be sure they caught every little detail about him, so that they could accommodate properly.

Gaara wasn't looking though. He didn't seem to care one bit what kind of state Naruto was in. He just gripped the blond more tightly and sucked with more vigor.

Naruto could see that Gaara was holding himself back and trying to stay within the confines of sanity. A few more seconds of this, though, and he would be a different man altogether. And it wouldn't be Naruto's lust that stole Gaara's mind. It would be Gaara's own. He'd done such a valiant job of being careful so far, and really Naruto had dragged it out too long already. The outcome had already been pretty clearly indicated, but Naruto wanted to try something more direct to be entirely sure.

"Stop." His tone wasn't overly loud or demanding, but it was always enough.

Gaara ignored him though.

"Stop," Naruto said more loudly.

Nothing.

"Gaara," Naruto demanded firmly. "Stop!"

He felt a small prick, alerting him that Gaara's fangs were no longer retracted. A moment later, his arm began to burn as opposed to the slight tingle from before. That was the sign that Gaara had injected more venom, and Naruto knew exactly what that meant. His instinctual side had noticed that Naruto was still quite able to move around freely, but that would not do. It was just too cumbersome to quarry a prey that could fight back.

Gaara hadn't taken to mauling Naruto, and Naruto wasn't sure exactly why. Maybe he just wasn't in the mood for a struggle. Maybe he just enjoyed doing it slowly. Maybe he was still holding himself back with what remnants of restraint still clung to his mind. Naruto was unsure, but he was sure that he was being immobilized to be made an easier target.

Of course, everything happened within a matter of seconds. And not a moment later, that tingling-turned-burn burst into a hot flame that suddenly shot from his forearm into his chest. The venom would stop his heart any minute now, Naruto knew, and he'd be well on his way to becoming a vampire. Once his heart was stopped, there was no going back. But all Naruto could do was cry out, clutch his chest, and crumble to his knees in pain.

Gaara simply stepped closer, hovering over Naruto's body with a sadistic smirk on his face. A moment later, the upturn of lips turned into a grimace as Temari jabbed her thumb into the special spot on his neck. Naruto just fell to the floor, unable to support himself at all, as Gaara disappeared from his sight and the ceiling began to blur.

_Oh god. It's happening. I'm gonna die._

Sounds were getting fuzzy and Naruto was sure he was about to die when his body was lifted and shifted before something was stabbed heedlessly into his chest. Chocolate was shoved in his mouth before he could even cry out from the sting and then he felt a line slashed up his forearm. He could feel blood oozing from the wound heavily, but oddly enough it wasn't making him feel any worse. Teeth sank deep into his bicep next. For a few seconds, there was a stillness between the two as Kankuro sucked feverishly from Naruto's upper arm and Naruto realized that Kankuro was in the process of desperately trying to save his life before it was too late.

It was working too. Naruto slowly began to withdraw from the precipice of unconsciousness. Life slowly seeped back into him, despite the fact that he could feel himself losing a lot of blood. He realized that the longer he dragged this out, the more blood he'd lose and, thus, the worse shape he'd be in. So as soon as he felt like he'd survive and that the anti-venom could do the rest of the job, he pushed lightly on Kankuro's chest. Kankuro didn't pause though.

Naruto acknowledged that he might not have been putting enough energy into the bond. He focused on the bond and Kankuro immediately stopped drawing blood from his bicep. He pulled back and wiped the excess blood from the gash on Naruto's forearm with his own shirt, which was covered in blood anyway. He then wrapped the long wound with already prepared bandaging. Once the wound was adequately covered, though it would soon bleed through the wrappings, Kankuro pulled the syringe out of Naruto's chest. He looked to Naruto with eager eyes, reminding Naruto of a lost puppy.

"Help me sit up," Naruto said weakly because he was starting to feel faint. He knew this time, though, that he would not die. He'd just pass out for a while.

Kankuro helped Naruto slowly sit upright. They paused, and then Naruto started to sway dangerously away from Kankuro's body. Of course, Kankuro caught and righted him before pausing again for confirmation that they could proceed. Naruto just leaned heavily into Kankuro's chest and draped his wounded arm tentatively over the man's shoulder.

"Can't walk," he breathed, winded from his effort. "C-Carry."

Kankuro reacted promptly, picking Naruto up bridal-style.

Naruto looked over his shoulder to see Temari talking in feverish, hushed tones very close to Gaara's face. Gaara wasn't thrashing anymore, so it seemed like her words were taking effect, but he was still squirming. No, that's not the word. It was more like writhing, and that made Naruto feel so goddamn guilty.

"Will he..." Naruto began to ask Kankuro, but Gaara's red eyes snapped to blue and Naruto trailed off. There was moment of tense pause before Gaara shifted back into beast-mode and began to try fighting Temari off. In their current positions though, he was powerless.

The elevator doors closed between them then. Naruto hadn't even realized he was in the elevator, so he grunted in soft surprise before deciding he didn't have the energy to be shocked. Kankuro carried Naruto to the couch inside Sasuke's unused suite and laid the injured man down carefully.

Lost in his own mind and fighting the urge to draw energy from Kankuro, it took Naruto a few moments to realize that Kankuro was watching him intently. He cracked an eye open to see Kankuro's expectant face just inches away. Blood dripped down his chin onto his heavily stained shirt, but he hadn't addressed that yet. When he saw Naruto's eye assessing him, he lit up and scooted closer. With Kankuro, being in control of a vampire seemed like a terrible thing.

Naruto sighed. "Take care of your face for god's sake," he mumbled.

Kankuro's brows furrowed in genuine confusion before he just wiped the back of his hand across his face.

' _I guess that takes care of it_.'

Naruto laughed softly at the simplicity of the solution. Kankuro smiled back at Naruto, and Naruto found it really endearing. But when Naruto's amusement died, Kankuro suddenly looked worried that he'd done something wrong. That bothered Naruto deeply.

"Stop," Naruto said, so Kankuro looked away. "No, I mean stop everything."

Kankuro gave pause. "How do I do that?" he asked.

Naruto sighed in slight frustration and closed his eyes. He imagined their bond diffusing. He knew he couldn't release it entirely and make it dormant, because Kankuro wouldn't be able to control his bloodlust. So he just dialed down enough so that Kankuro wouldn't make a move against Naruto without permission, but he was free to control himself otherwise.

Afraid Kankuro would still be a danger to others, Naruto softly commanded, "Don't leave without my permission."

Even if he was basically in control of himself, the bond was still strong enough that he wouldn't deny a direct command from Naruto.

There were a few moments of silence before Kankuro finally spoke. "Naruto..."

Naruto just hummed in reply.

"I..." Kankuro never said anything more though.

"What is it?" Naruto murmured after a couple long moments of waiting.

"I can see," Kankuro began, "why you're addicting." A short pause. "Euphoric," Kankuro suddenly provided. "That's what it is."

Naruto sighed. "But it's just a trap," he pointed out softly.

Kankuro nodded and conceded, "It is."

The desire to steal Kankuro's vitality and replenish his body was strong within Naruto, but he hadn't been fighting his lovelust for so long just to revert back to that careless being. It was too difficult to focus on controlling himself and Kankuro at once though, which Kankuro could recognize.

"Sleep," Kankuro said softly. "You'll heal more quickly if you do."

There was a finality to the next pause and Naruto began to drift off to sleep in it. He vaguely heard Kankuro say one last thing before he passed out though. It was just a whisper, really.

"So tempting."

**~ ( >^.^)> <(^.^<) ~**

Naruto felt a gentle touch on his temple and stirred in his sleep, turning his head toward the touch and sighing softly. The fingertips running carefully down his cheek felt like the caress of a cloud. As he was slowly pulled him from his dreams, his lips pulled into a soft smile. There was a pause, then, in the fluttering fingers before they trailed back up toward his temple. Naruto was often woken up in a gentle manner, as Kiba wasn't the type to be anything but gentle, but this was another feeling entirely. It was an entirely unique experience. It felt... fuller, in some way.

Somehow, the atmosphere around him was crackling in a way it'd never crackled before, at least not where Kiba was concerned... or anyone but Sasuke, for that matter. It was a heavy, yet so uplifting, tranquility that reached deep into his being and left him senselessly calmed. The touch on his face felt lighter than a touch could physically be. It was there, most certainly there, but not really there at all, as if his imagination was so glorious that it could be dreaming this up. But, at the same time, Naruto didn't really think that could be the case at all. It felt, in his heart, way too real to be anything but... well... real. Someone was feeding him this emotion, and it was the almost inebriating effect of that emotion that made this moment feel so ethereal. There was only one thing that could possibly make this any better, and that was Sasuke.

Naruto remembered the softness of Sasuke's skin, the flutter of his perfectly unkempt hair. He recalled the way Sasuke's touch always seemed to be as delicate and light as a feather, almost making you question if it was actually happening or if you were just imagining the beautiful being before you, almost like this moment, in fact. He dredged up the fathomless depth of Sasuke's eyes and how, dark as they might be, there was an unmistakable light that shined way down deep inside.

To the untrained eye, this light didn't exist. But to the eye that loved Sasuke as fully as Naruto, the light was more like a burning star struggling against the tight shackles that Sasuke himself had placed so many years ago. The small silhouette of a hand reached out from within. Through layers of suppression and rejection and thick, dark uncertainty, Sasuke sought contact. And Naruto remembered the first time he'd reached back, the first time he'd touched Sasuke on that plane.

A longing to be connected to Sasuke that way again, to hold not his flesh and bone hand but the one still reaching for someone to hold on to, gripped Naruto tightly. He wished for Sasuke's company so badly. A dull ache made itself known as Naruto realized that Sasuke might not be ready for that, and maybe neither was he. It could be years still until they were reunited. Until that time, Naruto couldn't be at Sasuke's side. He couldn't hold a hand that wasn't ready to be held.

But he couldn't very well just look away either. He saw— _felt—_ so deeply into Sasuke that he couldn't stop himself from responding. There was no delay time for him to interrupt his urges because, really, they felt much baser than desire. They felt part of his being, like a fathomless need. Naruto  _needed_  to connect with Sasuke, but Sasuke didn't have room for that yet. And neither did Naruto. At least, that had been the case the last time Naruto had seen Sasuke, and he had a feeling that not even Sasuke was stubborn enough to climb out of a struggle that deep so quickly. There was mending left to do. There had to be, because Naruto was still mending too.

Sasuke was still learning how to be gentle, not just in his touch but gentle in his actions, and his words, and his heart. He was learning to be open, to show himself wholly without hiding any piece of him away. He was learning to trust, to share himself with those who wanted nothing but the access to love him freely and deeply and without cause. For so many years, Sasuke had been a stranger to these principles. He loved a little girl so many years ago, and then his sister had died and broken his heart into a million pieces so tiny that Sasuke  _still_ believed he would never be able to pick them up. What Sasuke saw from inside was an irreparable mirror, a broken reflection of who he was. There was still so much that Sasuke needed to rediscover about loving another person, so many tiny pieces he needed to reclaim, before Naruto could be in his presence again.

Naruto needed to learn how to be himself again too. He needed to build up a foundation of strength once more. He needed to let go of his fears, of his past. He needed to stop thinking lowly of himself and accept that he was worth the kind of love Sasuke was learning how to share. He needed to be more like the man he'd once been before he fell into a dark pit, but better still. He needed to raise himself up to a whole other level to be able to stand at Sasuke's side. They would forever need to challenge each other to be more than they had ever been before if they were going to work, and they needed to work.

A familiar and stifling pain ripped through Naruto's chest and tore the serenity that'd been holding him so snugly into shreds of nothingness, as if it'd never been. He kept his eyes closed to try to hang on to the experience. He didn't want to break the lingering memory in his mind. Even if the emotion was no longer tangible, he tried holding on to it anyway. He wanted to stay lost in that fantasy for just a bit, to feel those feelings without the sting of pain lacing in and destroying the lightness he'd had.

He sighed, because reality waited for no one.

"Are you feeling better?" Kankuro asked. "Well, under the circumstances," he revised.

Naruto hummed a quiet affirmative, knowing that Kankuro was missing nothing about his internal struggle.

"I don't know what you've done," Kankuro went on, not wishing to dwell, "but Gaara is..." He trailed off, searching for an appropriate word.

Naruto propped himself up and looked back attentively at where he guessed Kankuro would be.

"—changed," Kankuro finished. A small smile, perhaps the first smile in relation to Gaara for months, settled onto his lips. "There's still a war raging within him, but he's more human than he's been in so long."

Naruto smiled too but said nothing. He just lay back down.

After realizing that information was obviously not going to be given so freely, Kankuro asked, "How'd you do it? Are you... willing this?"

Naruto snorted, as if amused by that insinuation. "No," he answered. "Gaara isn't under my influence at all. He rejected me entirely. He could probably drink half the blood in my body and still be totally oblivious to my will."

"So, then, if he's not under your influence..." Kankuro trailed off, leaving the obvious to hang in the air.

Naruto shrugged, another smile pulling at his lips. "Love?" he suggested.

Kankuro's brows furrowed confusedly, but Naruto didn't have to see the expression to feel the confusion in the air.

"He's rediscovered his feelings for Kiba," Naruto explained. "That's all it is, but isn't that enough? He's found hope, Kankuro. He's realized that not even someone like me could break their bond. He can actually imagine the solution I have in my head. He can see it working, and I guess that's enough to bring him some clarity, which he'll definitely need if my plan is gonna work."

"Which is?" Kankuro prompted.

Naruto heaved a sigh as he sat up properly on the couch. He looked at Kankuro again and replied with, "You should ask Gaara." He could tell that Kankuro was displeased with that answer by the roll of his eyes. "If he doesn't want you to know, then I can only assume there's a reason he isn't sharing with me. I don't wanna upset him, not when he's so unpredictable."

If Gaara wanted his privacy, then Naruto wasn't going to take it away, especially not when Gaara was still so unstable. Better or not, he wasn't cured yet.

Kankuro's annoyed gaze rolled back to Naruto and he realized that he couldn't disagree. It would be best to keep Gaara's mood as even as possible, just like in any other situation since he'd flown off the deep end. It would do no one any good to agitate him. Kankuro knew that Naruto was doing the logical thing by keeping his mouth sealed, but it was still irritating.

"How long have I been out?" Naruto asked.

"An hour or so," Kankuro answered vacantly, hardly interested in this new strain of conversation.

"What?" Naruto lifted his arms, amazed at how easily they responded. "I feel so good."

He looked up at Kankuro both in awe and curiosity, expecting an explanation, but Kankuro just shrugged. Naruto could see that Kankuro was lost along a trail of thought that could not be broken so easily by a subject change.

"Maybe he's willing to talk now," Naruto suggested, finally earning the attention of Kankuro's eyes again. "Maybe he'll let you in on the details."

"Maybe," Kankuro mused. "I'll have to ask..." He looked away and added under his breath, "—since you're no help."

Naruto chose to ignore that quip, because he really was no help. Instead, he stood and made for the elevator, realizing that maybe he was too quick to judge his health. He swayed a little, but Kankuro was supporting him instantly. He smiled nonetheless at the man and nodded.

"Let's go ask him then," he suggested brightly

As expected, Kankuro defensively shielded Naruto's body when they entered Gaara's suite. This was partially to Naruto's aid too, since he still needed a bit of support to find his feet again. They got only a few steps in, time Naruto spent looking around the room for his redheaded friend, before Gaara suddenly appeared before them. He stopped in front of Kankuro but leaned to be able to look into Naruto's eyes over Kankuro's shoulder. There was an eager expression on his face, the likes of a child on christmas morning.

"Call Kiba," Gaara commanded, though his tone was inquisitive and hopeful as opposed to demanding.

Naruto was at a loss for a moment. He didn't react beyond a dumb expression at first. He wasn't sure if he was amused by Gaara's renewed innocence or skeptical of how drastic the attitude change was. And furthermore, was he happy that Gaara was in this state of mind, or was it weird and should he be wary? In any case, Gaara was eager to proceed with the plan they'd silently made with each other, and Naruto thought it was better to utilize this strange mood while it was standing strong. So he reached into his pocket and retrieved his phone.

Kankuro looked back at Naruto, silently questioning where the solidarity between them had gone. Hadn't they made a silent pact to try to get Gaara to explain? Yet, here Naruto was giving in to Gaara's demands so easily, without even trying to get Gaara to open up. Naruto paused his actions, shrugging helplessly. Kankuro just rolled his eyes and looked back at Gaara, using Naruto's pause to get the answers he needed.

"Can you not explain your intentions first?" Kankuro asked.

Gaara seemed to contemplate that request seriously, the undercurrent of relentless excitement ebbing from his aura as he did. When it began to look like Kankuro would get no answer, as Gaara continued to stare seriously at the floor for a few long seconds more than Kankuro was willing to wait, Kankuro spoke again.

"You're better," Kankuro conceded, touching Gaara's shoulder to gain the attention of his brother's eyes. "I'll give you that."

Kankuro paused to smile at the shade of purple Gaara's eyes had become. The constant redness hadn't gone completely, but it was at least beginning to mix with Gaara's normal shade of blue. That was not the gaze of a feral vampire.

"But," Kankuro went on, "that doesn't mean you're ready to face Kiba. I don't understand how you're even better, to be honest. Naruto says it has to do with love and hope, so why don't we start by explaining that," he suggested. "Explain to me what it is you're hoping for."

"It doesn't matter," Gaara answered immediately. "Kiba will heal me."

Kankuro's expression became slightly more stern. "How, Gaara? How is he going to heal you?"

"With his being," was Gaara's simple answer.

Kankuro sighed. "Gaara, you need to do a lot more healing before you can even think about contacting him again. Naruto is one thing, but Kiba is not going to be like any other human and you know that. You can't let this little victory go to your head. You don't  _want_  to hurt him, do you?"

Gaara averted his eyes then, receding into himself to analyze those words. Kankuro was right. Gaara didn't want to hurt Kiba. But for Naruto's plan to work, Gaara had to get over that. He had to accept that he was going to have to throw away all the principles he'd lived his entire life upon. He was going to have to mar Kiba's skin, to allow the feral part of him access to Kiba. Even if he didn't want to, he was going to have to put Kiba's life at risk if things were going to change. After spending such a prolonged time in such an instinctual state, Gaara had to accept that he would never be able to live beside Kiba again. He'd spent too long trying to parade around as a normal human being already, and he could do that no longer.

He knew Itachi and Deidara had once been in this same situation, or at least some rough outline of it. Itachi had changed Deidara, that much was for sure. He, like any vampire allured by any human, was mad with lust, lust that made him blind to love. And though he never expressed the dirty details and he made it a point to keep those things locked away where no one would be able to find them, the truth behind it all sometimes seeped into Itachi's eyes. What kept Itachi from murdering Deidara in cold blood would probably never be revealed to Gaara, but Gaara knew that Itachi had wanted to murder his lover. He knew this because Itachi was a vampire and there always came a point for every vampire, no matter how pure of heart, where instinct overruled the mind, the body,  _and_  the heart.

Despite how well Itachi hid his demons, Gaara could see them peek out sometimes. He couldn't feel them in Itachi's aura—Itachi was good at hiding things like Sasuke was—but he could see them dull the light in Itachi's eyes anyway. Itachi would fight the wave of emotion those demons brought on. He would purse his lips to ward off a frown, narrow his eyes to stifle tears, tighten his jaw to avoid a tremble. His face would go blank, but that in itself was a sign. Yes, there was a darkness in their past, connected to the story of how they became mates. But there was also light, and that was something Itachi had no problem flaunting to the world. It was an emotion that Itachi felt often, perhaps each time he gazed at his partner even. It was bliss. Reuniting their souls had been pure bliss. It severely overshadowed whatever else happened between them. A few dark memories, a few thoughts and feelings Itachi was ashamed to let even his own self feel, that was the price for them being together. But was the memory of what they had once been not worth what they had become?

Gaara looked back into Kankuro's eyes, and everything set into place for him. If Itachi could manage to spare Deidara's life, then Gaara could spare Kiba's. Plus, Gaara would have help. They would protect Kiba. He would be safe if Gaara ended up not controlling himself. And when his eyes reopened, Kiba would be a different man. When they saw each other again, through a new filter, nothing would be able to shake the high that Gaara would feel. It would be that flourish of emotion that Itachi so often felt for Deidara, but multiplied by tens of hundreds of thousands. It would be well worth it all in the end. No matter the pain Gaara might have to cause Kiba, no matter the discomfort he would have to put his lover through, no matter the danger they would have to face, it was worth it to be with Kiba more wholly than ever before.

"I want one thing," Gaara informed, determination setting his features. "And I will have him."

"And what are you willing to sacrifice for that?" Kankuro asked.

"Everything," Gaara answered simply.

Kankuro's face contorted into an expression of concern. "Even his life?"

Gaara nodded. "If that's the price."

"Gaara, that's just—" Kankuro tried to interject, but Gaara interrupted.

"Call," Gaara instructed Naruto.

Kankuro wanted so badly to snatch Naruto's phone away, but he couldn't make a move against the blond without permission. That only made his emotion twice as potent, so the thunderous demand that left his lips ended up being enough to still the shift of Naruto's thumb on his phone screen and command all attention again.

"Listen to me!" Kankuro boomed, shocking everyone. "I'm sorry," Kankuro offered, though it was obvious he was entirely unapologetic, "but I won't put people in danger for something that may be worth nothing at all."

"It's worth everything!" Gaara snapped.

Kankuro scoffed as the romanticism of the whole idea. He was expected to believe that some existentialist idea of love and fucking hope had changed his brother? He was expected to entrust Kiba's fucking  _life_  to something that stupid and fickle? Ha! As if!

"None of this makes any sense!" Kankuro exclaimed. "You want Kiba, but you're willing to sacrifice his life! I don't understand, Gaara! If you love him, then protect him! And what are you even planning on doing that involves risking his life and yet... saving..." He trailed off, his intense emotion dying too as realization dawned on him.

"He's gonna change him," Temari said softly. Everyone looked to regard her and she locked eyes with her elder brother. "And I think we should let him," she added.

Kankuro regarded her blankly for a moment before his expression grew stern and the proper emotions clicked into place. He looked back to Gaara, a tense challenge in his eyes. "Absolutely not," he insisted. "You might be willing to take that from him, but I'm not."

"He's not yours to be making decisions for," Gaara quickly pointed out.

"He's not yours to defile!" Kankuro retorted.

"He's mine alone!" Gaara snapped.

"He is not!" Kankuro shouted, his energy spiking so tangibly that Naruto could swear he felt it licking at his skin like fire. Naruto had never seen Kankuro so worked up about anything.

"He's not yours, Gaara! And if he is, he's yours to love and to protect, not to send like a lamb to the slaughter!" Kankuro countered, effectively silencing Gaara but not without a rebellious snarl on the redhead's behalf. Kankuro just scoffed in return, brushing it off his back without care.

"He is  _ours_ ," Kankuro went on, with less volume but just as much intensity. "He's been  _ours_  since the beginning. I have loved him just as much as you! And because I love him, I will not hand him to you without a fight. You may think you're clear of mind now, but you're not. You're having a good moment and you're drunk with optimism. But you will kill him. He will  _die_."

Naruto didn't know why he thought it would ever be a good idea to interject, but for some god forsaken reason, he did. "Well, with that attitude, you'll make sure of it."

"What?!" Kankuro snapped, turning blazing eyes on Naruto, who instantly regretted his phrasing.

"I just mean that Gaara must already know he'll be at his limit," Naruto clarified. "I think he's relying on  _you_  to make sure nobody gets hurt more than necessary."

Kankuro scoffed, looking at Naruto first and then Gaara in turn with an expression of disgust. "Do you hear yourselves? Are you honestly putting a limit on how much he can suffer before you realize what you're doing is fucked up?" Kankuro's head shook in disbelief. "What you're telling me is that you want to destroy the most precious thing you've ever had," he said to Gaara alone.

"You want to take his life, and you want me to stand by and watch as you destroy something that I consider very previous myself? It's not just the idea of hurting Kiba at all that disgusts me but the idea of destroying everything you've striven to model over your life, Gaara! You're demolishing the man you worked so hard to become! And what is this for?!" Kankuro demanded. "To end your own suffering?! To satisfy your own selfish desires?! This is insane!"

"But it's all that I have left!" Gaara shouted, finally brought to his breaking point with Kankuro's speech. His eyes turned to a blazing red to match his brother's. "You don't think I want to watch him live a full life, Kankuro?! I have wanted nothing but to see him thrive the way only a human can! But I feel him every, single day! I feel his pain, and it fuels my bloodlust, and it makes me wanna hunt him down and kill him! And sometimes I think that would be fine because at least I would be ending his suffering!"

Gaara's chest was heaving by now, worrying Temari so much that she stood behind him and placed a hand on his back in both comfort and warning.

"I want my mind back, Kankuro," Gaara went on, trying to calm back down, "and he's the only one who can give it to me. And it's sick and I hate it and I wish there was some other way, but he cannot be human. He just can't. And I just—  _we_  just can't live this way!"

The following silence was extremely tense. Kankuro's emotions had long passed boiling point. There was still an undampened rebellion in his aura, despite how silent he was in the wake of Gaara's counter. And Gaara's determination did not waver, despite how firmly opposing his brother's stance was. One was ready to do whatever it took to stop what the other would kill to do, and it looked like that might be what it came down to. The fight about ready to break out between them would be monumental, and Naruto didn't even want to imagine how much it would take for the winner to decide that they'd won. How injured would one of them have to be before this was settled? Naruto didn't want to find out, and it seemed Temari felt exactly the same.

"Kankuro," Temari beckoned, demanding the attention of her brother's eyes as she boldly stepped between them. Once she was sure she had Kankuro's eyes on her alone, she spoke.

"Gaara needs this." Her voice was gentle. "It will work."

"How do you know?" Kankuro asked, his voice no longer angry or demanding but more so desperate, as if he were pleading for someone to make some sense of this situation.

Temari's answer was simple, and Naruto honestly had expected it to take more to sway Kankuro.

"Because I believe, and you need to believe too."

It was a long moment before Kankuro stopped gazing intently at Temari, at which point his eyes shifted to Gaara. He sifted through his brother's emotions, which were thick and roiling without any subsidence at all. And though he didn't completely understand why anyone thought this was a good idea, Kankuro realized that there was nothing he could do. He trusted Temari's judgement completely, but he couldn't be pulled into the plot so easily. There was an intense uneasiness about this whole thing that kept him from giving the okay.

"I love you, brother," Kankuro said quietly, finding it difficult to look into those red eyes when he already missed them being so blue. "I would do anything for you, and that's why I won't get in your way. But I love Kiba just the same, and that's why I can't concede." He closed his eyes and sighed with strain, trying to hide the look of disapproval he didn't want to give Gaara. "I wish you luck. Oh, god. I wish you luck."

And then Kankuro was gone.

_To be continued..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was thinking about making an Index for this story. I would include the semantics of the world, a history of both vampires and bijuu, and a glossary of terms. Would anyone even care about that?
> 
> I have made some edits to fix plot holes that were kindly pointed out to me by Mija711!
> 
> Chapter 17: It was brought to my attention that the time lapse between Naruto and Sasuke splitting up and Naruto finding out he's a bijuu isn't clear. It seemed like one second they were breaking up and then the next Naruto was suddenly in this weird state of being. I had to go back to the chapter and make the time line more clear. The time lapse between chapters 16 and 17 is 6 - 8 weeks, and I also changed up some of the dialogue between him and Kiba early in the chapter.
> 
> Chapter 18: I was also informed that the way a bijuu bond works isn't clear. I was asked why Sasuke and Sai weren't affected if Naruto can control vampires so easily. This information was added into chapter 18 between Naruto telling Kiba to sleep in and Kiba kicking Naruto out of the shower. I can't explain it all in this note, so you'll have to go back and read that section. Use that information to infer why Sai wasn't controlled. As for Sasuke, further reasoning will be explained in later chapters.


	22. Sound of Mind

"No," Naruto murmured automatically, his voice softened by shock. "No, he can't go."

For an excruciatingly long moment, he was unsure of what to do, wavering between commanding that Kankuro return and doing nothing at all. On one hand, Kankuro's bond was still somewhat active. Naruto could just make him stay and oversee things. But on the other hand, Naruto could feel the intense aversion Kankuro felt toward this whole ordeal. It would be cruel to make him sit through it if he wasn't willing. While it was reckless to let him go, it was also wrong to make him stay.

Naruto turned an uncertain gaze to the sight of Gaara watching him expectantly. Temari watched him too, though with more curiosity than anything. Naruto knew she would have the same perspective as Kankuro and disagree with Naruto controlling her kin so easily, but she was also understanding of Gaara's perspective too. The look in her eyes expressed that she was, more or less, just interested in how he would handle the situation. While Temari took on a passive role, Gaara made silent but clear demands.

Naruto began to feel slightly panicky. Unsure of what else to do, he just relegated his bond with Kankuro down to nothing, making it completely dormant so that Kankuro would be in control of himself entirely. Then, he shrugged.

"I can't  _make_  him stay," Naruto said, riding the border between the truth and a lie. It was a better excuse than, 'I don't wanna' though. "He's in complete control of himself."

"Then take it away!" Gaara snapped.

Conflicted, Naruto chose to lie. "I can't," he claimed, hoping Gaara was ignorant enough about bijuu to be confused.

"What do you mean?" Gaara snarled. "You're a bijuu!"

"Yeah, not a god!" Naruto argued. "Our bond is too weak. He won't listen to me unless it gets stronger."

Gaara narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "So make it stronger."

"I don't know how," Naruto lied.

Quick to his wits, he suppressed himself to hide any indication of a lie from Gaara. All the while, he actively implored Gaara's aura too, doing his damnedest to interfere with and manipulate any suspicion from the vampire. He was still quite new to bijuu life, but he was just skilled enough to scrape by. After a few tense moments of silent scrutiny, Gaara let it go and turned his attention back to the plan.

"Sit," Gaara growled, pointing to the couch.

Naruto was relieved to sense Gaara's attention turn elsewhere, but he couldn't be put completely at ease. Inevitably, dread began to seep into his gut. Kankuro was the one who was supposed to be able to control Gaara. What would they do without him? Surely Temari would be enough to subdue the man if need be, but Naruto couldn't help it if he'd become used to Kankuro's presence. Without it, he simply couldn't rest assured. It felt like Gaara was the one in total control now, and Naruto didn't like that at all. In the end, all he could do was what he was told. He moved slowly, so as not to excite Gaara or anything. Once seated, he received new instructions.

"Call."

Naruto looked up at Gaara, whose eyes he'd been devoutly avoiding. "Don't you think... that..."

A low, rumbling growl caused him to trail off. Gaara's tolerance was, obviously, waning.

"Go ahead Naruto," Temari quietly permissed.

Naruto looked over at the woman uncertainly. She was the only hope for controlling Gaara left, and she looked at ease. So maybe Naruto was underestimating her. Maybe she was perfectly able of keeping her brother at bay. When Naruto rooted through her aura, he noted that she was most worried about getting through the ordeal smoothly. She didn't wish to agitate Gaara, obviously hoping to cause as little friction as possible. It was obvious she wasn't up for a fight, but she also looked ready to bare down should one arise.

Deciding he could do nothing but trust Temari, Naruto did as he was told. His phone call to Kiba was brief. The length of the explanation he gave was that Gaara wanted to see him and he needed to hurry. What followed was intriguing for Naruto to watch.

Gaara began to pace the floor tirelessly. Naruto had to question how sane the man was, but one peep into his aura confirmed that he was exceptionally sound of mind. Still, his stability was declining and that began to become apparent in the steadily deteriorating state of his behavior. He was slowly beginning to act less like a man and more like an agitated beast. He'd definitely rediscovered his connection to Kiba and was currently using it as a sensory link to monitor the man. He obsessed over every tiny fluctuation in Kiba's energy field, hissing or growling or releasing some other guttural noise from his throat periodically as he reacted as if he were there.

There came a point, though, when Gaara just stopped and watched the elevator doors raptly. Kiba had arrived. They all anxiously waited for Gaara's lover to finally present his face, or perhaps it was more accurate to call Kiba prey. Naruto was no longer sure.

Kankuro, having been monitoring the situation too, felt the same way. He'd been monitoring Gaara closely, analyzing how his brother was being affected and gauging the severity of the situation as it slowly shifted. Kankuro was less concerned about Kiba's actions and more interested in how they were affecting Gaara, but in the end he too was confused about whether Kiba was being perceived as friend or dinner. That was what lead him to intercept Kiba in the lobby.

Just as Kiba's finger was about to press into the up arrow to summon the elevator, Kankuro stopped him by his wrist. Kiba's head turned, their eyes met, and Kankuro felt the air rush from his lungs like a long-awaited gust of wind.

He'd known Kiba since Kiba was just a small child. He'd looked into Kiba's innocent, human eyes and that was the first time he'd ever felt anything other than uncertainty of humans. He'd always been conflicted. He was drawn to them like predator to prey, but he was taught that they were not his to just make easy meals of. He didn't know how he was supposed to interact with them. But when he'd met Kiba for the very first time, there was no confusion. Kiba was innocent, and Kankuro could do nothing to stop the same brotherly love he felt toward Gaara from transpiring. Kiba was his to protect. And though he was a grown man by now, there was still so much innocence left in his eyes that Kankuro didn't want to see wash away.

How could Kankuro do this? How could he let them put Kiba at such a risk? But, then again, wasn't it fair to let Kiba be in control of his own fate?

Kankuro could see many emotions twisting and twirling in Kiba's eyes. The brunet was predominantly curious, so Kankuro chose to erase all confusion and relay the full truth candidly.

"Gaara wants to change you," he informed.

He saw the many emotions in Kiba's eyes hone into one, singular reaction—fear. But that quickly shifted into hope, and then uncertainty.

"That's against everything he—" Kiba cut off and made a slight correction to express solidarity. "— _we_ stand for."

Kankuro nodded, not missing the intention behind Kiba's correction. He was picking up subtle cues already and making it clear that he was with Gaara thru and thru, no matter what Kankuro had to say against it. Still, there was an edge of uncertainty to his voice, as if he were questioning Kankuro, imploring him to explain what could cause Gaara to shift between such extreme views.

"I suppose he's desperate now," Kankuro mused.

Hope returned to Kiba's eyes and Kankuro knew that Kiba wouldn't question things any further. Even if they had fought so hard to be the couple that defied all odds, Kiba was quick to get over himself and renounce his principles for Gaara if that meant they could be close again. Kankuro should have expected as much. For as long as he could remember, Kiba had always looked at Gaara with such reverence. He would stop at nothing to be together. This was the man who'd shown Gaara blind devotion even in Gaara's most gruesome hour.

At that point, Kankuro could do nothing but fully resign to defeat. He'd just have to accept it now. He still couldn't understand why anyone thought this was a good idea or why they thought it would even work to begin with at all, but he realized that being half in and half out would only promise Kiba a painful death. There were so many factors to this situation that made it dangerous. There would be a very small window for anyone to get Gaara away from Kiba once he sank his teeth in. And, frankly, it was Kankuro's duty to guide his siblings. It was his responsibility to lead their coven as their father's eldest son, and he couldn't turn his back on them now. It was against everything Kankuro felt, but he loved his family more than even himself. And if that meant blinding his own eyes and standing at their side, he would fall in line.

He took a cleansing breath and released as much negativity as possible. "You'll be okay," he promised Kiba, even if it felt somewhat empty. "Dispel the fear. Latch on to the hope." He began nodding his head and Kiba mirrored the action.

"Okay," Kiba murmured.

"I can't take you in there if you're gonna be a mess," Kankuro went on. "He won't be able to control himself, so only feed him positive emotions if you can and just... just try to stay calm."

Kankuro wanted to slap himself for giving advice on how to survive an intentional attack he was about to facilitate. It seemed so fucking sick. It was what it was though, so he stuck to his guns and brought Kiba up to the suite. There would be no sense in making Gaara wait any longer. After all, he could tell that Gaara was teetering on the precipice of control by now. There was little time before he just started tearing down walls.

Next thing Kankuro knew, he was two steps into the suite with all eyes on his body. He looked around at the expressions of askance on everyone's faces, wondering how long he'd been standing there in thought. Just a moment ago, he was in the lobby. But now he was here, and he was grabbing Kiba's wrist tightly, preventing the brunet from entering the room any further. And everyone was watching him, expecting him to let Kiba go, to let the plans proceed.

Gaara's eyes, though, were trained unwaveringly on the contact between Kiba and Kankuro. Kankuro thought it a great feat that Gaara hadn't just snapped instantly. His breathing was heavy and his eyes bright as fire, but there remained a sense of control he hadn't exhibited for a long time. Kankuro understood that Gaara was stretching himself thin to wait. He was waiting for Kankuro to release Kiba. He was trying to respect Kankuro's feeling of responsibility for Kiba. He was trying to give Kankuro a moment to cope.

Perhaps it was because Gaara felt Kankuro's fears and insecurities clearly that the man gave pause. Perhaps it was because he knew that he wouldn't be able to temper himself once his lips finally met Kiba's skin. Maybe it was because he needed Kankuro there to protect them all. It didn't much matter why the man paused. It just mattered that he paused at all. Kankuro could appreciate that, so he used the moment to find his peace with this situation.

He closed his eyes to escape the stares and breathed deeply. And when he reopened his eyes, he locked them on Kiba's inquiring gaze. Sure that Kiba could, and should, be calmer but not sure how much time he had left to make that happen anyway, Kankuro just let the man go. His fingers didn't have a chance to move even a centimeter from Kiba's skin before Gaara was upon the brunet, but Kankuro had expected that.

One of Gaara's hands yanked at Kiba's hair to expose his throat while the other arm snaked around Kiba's waist and held him close. Kiba's initial reaction was to yelp as his hands flew up and grabbed each of Gaara's shoulders, but then he whimpered as an intense flood of venom rushed into him and began to burn his veins. His breath grew shaky and his hands fell limply from Gaara's form as Gaara slumped over into a possessive position.

Kankuro crouched too, his eyes locked on Gaara's. His lips pulled back into a snarl, the one thing that got through to a vampire in such an instinctive mode. Gaara could recognize emotions in this state, but he couldn't understand them. Words would be lost on him, so emotion was pointless to try to employ. Body language was clear and concise though, so Kankuro left no room for interpretation. He was instigating a fight, letting Gaara know that he too had a claim on that human, and he wasn't going to let Gaara get away with him so easily.

Kankuro tensed. He knew the opportunity would come at any moment. He had to be ready. There would come a point when Gaara would have to switch between injecting venom and sucking out blood. That was Kankuro's window, and he had to watch for it raptly.

Even though he began to worry about Kiba, Kankuro refused to let his gaze waver. All he could do to ease Kiba's pain at this point was rip them apart as gently as possible, and that meant that he had to wait until Gaara's fangs were retracted. Finally, Gaara reached the point where temptation was too strong to hold off any longer. He expected Kankuro to attack, so he was able to drop just underneath Kankuro's reach when the elder sprang toward him. Kankuro didn't even give him a moment to taste Kiba's blood though. As quickly as Gaara had maneuvered out of the way, Kankuro had turned and grabbed one of his shoulders. Not wanting to hurt Kiba, Kankuro pulled and slammed Gaara down onto his back. The initial shock caused Gaara to loosen his grip on Kiba as his eyes scrunched up in agony and he wheezed deeply.

Kankuro had to pause long enough for Temari to pull Kiba out of harm's way, but that was enough for Gaara to get the upper hand. He jabbed Kankuro in the throat and tossed him to the side, his eyes snapping to lock onto Temari. A loud hiss crackled the atmosphere and Temari turned so that Kiba was inaccessible to Gaara, hissing back just as vehemently. Kankuro wasn't kept down for long though. When Gaara tried to lunge at his sister, Kankuro grabbed his ankle and tripped him before throwing himself on top of Gaara. He pinned Gaara down by grabbing both of his wrists and sitting on his back. Though he was in a completely disadvantageous position, Gaara continued to thrash.

The sound of Gaara's voice was nothing if not animalistic. Kankuro tried to hiss him into submission for a few seconds, but he quickly realized that such was getting him nowhere. Instead, he just let the heat of the moment go and calmed himself. He didn't even try to dupe Gaara by fabricating anything positive. He simply let it all disappear and became as empty as he could be. If Gaara was going to conform to anyone's mood, it was going to be a mood like that.

In his last moments of consciousness, Kiba looked past Temari at Gaara with an expression that twisted sadness and pain into one. And all Naruto could do throughout the entire ordeal was stand by in awe and flinch at the more intense moments. Temari touched his arm gently, stealing his gaze from the exchange between Kankuro and Gaara. She gestured for him to follow and he walked up the stairs and followed her into the master bedroom, where she'd lain Kiba to rest. In a split second, she closed the door to block out the commotion from below and was back at the bedside.

"It'll die down soon," Temari assured.

Naruto nodded his head in recognition, but Temari could see that he wasn't entirely there. She could see, and feel, him zone into Kiba and slowly tune her out. She wasn't sure what he was seeking in Kiba's mind. He might have just been afraid for Kiba's sake. Or maybe he was just observing the change. In any case, she patted him gently on the shoulder and left the two alone.

For longer than Naruto could track time, he sat there tuned in to Kiba and watching his every move. Their close relationship made it easy for him to utilize his third eye on the brunet, so it wasn't hard to experience Kiba's change entirely. He could feel when they were just getting to the climax, to the peak of the transition. Just as the moment approached, a loud scream jolted him out of Kiba's body. His head snapped toward the direction the scream and he felt the emotion paired with it bowl into him intensely. He steadied himself and then hurried out the door to look over the banister.

"What's wrong?" he asked, slightly panicked.

There was no immediate response, but Temari finally glanced up at Naruto and answered, "Their bond is breaking."

"And that hurts?" Naruto asked, having to raise his voice to be heard over another one of Gaara's cries.

Neither Temari nor Kankuro answered that question, as the answer was obvious. Naruto understood by the expressions on their faces that Kankuro and Temari were too concerned with Gaara's pain as they watched him clutch his chest to really care what Naruto was saying anyway. So he just turned back to Kiba.

Across the room, Kiba's form grew ever-stiller on the bed. His chest, moving almost imperceptibly at this point, filled with what little breath the expansion would allow. Naruto watched Kiba's chest lower slowly on an exhale until it just... stopped. Gaara finally fell silent, but Naruto was more absorbed in the shock of the fact that Kiba was fully dead. He knew this had to happen, but logically knowing was a whole other thing than physically seeing Kiba actually die. Naruto's breath got caught in his throat and it really dawned on him how different things were going to be from then on.

In the midst of Naruto's awe, Kiba's chest kicked back into action. There was a tiny jerk before it slowly began to lift again as he drew in a prolonged breath. Naruto felt a presence at his side and he looked over to see Gaara timidly moving past him. He studied Gaara's profile, noting the tear streaks on his face, the bright blue tint of his eye, the way his lips were parted by his ragged breath. He still held one hand gingerly over his chest and he walked as if it hurt to move quickly, but he edged closer to Kiba nonetheless.

Despite the physical discomfort he must have been feeling after his long struggle with Kankuro, Naruto got the impression that it wasn't anything physical that made Gaara move so slow. It was emotional. Gaara was finally able to see Kiba through clear eyes after so long of looking at him through a haze of bloodlust. And beyond that, he was looking at a whole other man. Kiba was no longer a human. He was a vampire now. He embodied everything Gaara had tried to keep from tainting his perfect existence.

A shuddering breath caught in Gaara's throat and he froze when Kiba's eyes blinked open. Naruto felt himself being tugged backward carefully until he was behind both Temari and Kankuro, but his eyes never left Kiba's body.

"He's gonna wake up in a craze, not understanding what he's feeling or why," Kankuro informed in a whisper.

"Gaara will soothe that," Temari added.

Even though the concept had never been explained, Naruto understood why the bond had to be broken for Kiba to change. When Kiba, the human, died, so did everything they'd ever known as a couple. Kiba was a changed man now. He was no longer going to offer the same love. Rather than transcend, their love was reborn. Their bond was shattered and rebuilt to be made stronger. Naruto knew he was about to witness what the true power of love could do. It was a strong force for humans, and it was even stronger yet for someone like Naruto. But it was amazingly strong for vampires, and it was this love that had finally saved Kiba and Gaara from themselves. He knew that they were all about to see something beautiful, the reuniting of two souls destined to be one.

Kiba's eyes darted back and forth across the ceiling a few times, staring as if it were some strange creature. Naruto released a relieved huff of breath when he saw the movement of Kiba's eyes because it was confirmation that Kiba was definitely alive. He was probably going to be inaccessible for a while, but he was totally alive again. Well, vampires never liked to refer to themselves as living, but the point remained. Seeing Kiba's body literally come to a complete halt had made Naruto feel like he couldn't breathe until he was certain Kiba's body was functioning again. But it was, and so he could breathe freely.

Of course, Naruto had formed a trend of breaking many vampires with that simple act alone, and this situation was no different. Kiba's head snapped to Naruto and his nostrils flared, at which point things got out of control very quickly.

Kiba became an instantaneous blur. He vaguely began to retake shape in the small space between Naruto and Kankuro's back, and Naruto could see it happening just a split second before it did. His third eye did him no service though. Seeing it in his head was all good and dandy, but there was physically no way for his body to react that quickly. Yet, somehow he found himself looking at a profile view of Kiba's face anyway as his body leaned heavily to the right. His shoulder just barely cleared Kiba's line of motion.

The act was instantaneous. The time it took for Kiba to get from one end of the room to the other was amazingly quick, but Naruto's reaction had to be even quicker. Yet, it felt as if Naruto were watching Kiba from a rift in time, as if time had slowed down incredibly. He could feel his body shifting further away from Kiba, and he was fully aware of every millimeter he covered. He shouldn't have even been able to conceive of such quick motion. Yet, he was  _enacting_  that motion himself so easily.

Kiba's eye snapped to Naruto's face and broke the moment. Before Naruto's mind could worry about anticipating anything further, Kiba was gone. The next place he reappeared was on the bed back across the room where Kankuro had thrown him. The force exerted was more than Kankuro had intended to use, but he also hadn't intended Kiba to be so quick. It wasn't that he was necessarily faster than anyone. He just had no delay time between thought and action. His instinct drove him, so his reflexes were capable of being totally unhindered.

Having already been in motion to grab Kiba, Gaara came to a halt where Kiba had just been standing. And since he was there right in front of Kankuro's face, he figured he might as well express his disapproval of that action. He hissed at Kankuro, who responded with a defensive snarl of his own.

"Gaara!" Temari hollered, struggling to hold Kiba back.

Both brothers snapped their heads to their sister, not even having noticed that she'd moved. Kiba was too quick for anyone to waste any time sneering at each other. Someone had to have hands on him at all times, and Temari was struggling with that at the moment. Though she clung firmly to his back and tried to hold him in place, he kept throwing her arms off as if they were toothpicks, scratching her up in the process.

"Help!" Temari yelled just before she lost all traction and fell on her ass as Kiba pulled away.

Gaara snapped into action. The way he grabbed Kiba and slammed him down onto the bed by his chest should have seemed rough, but his voice came out so soft and soothing that it could be considered nothing but loving.

"Shhh," Gaara cooed.

Unlike the damaging demeanor he'd used against Temari, Kiba didn't lay a harmful finger on Gaara. He tried to push at Gaara's chest for freedom, but the expression on his face changed immediately. There was fear and maybe a bit of agony. When Gaara gazed into his eyes deeply, he did settle significantly.

"That's your friend," Gaara said softly. "Naruto. You don't wanna hurt him. Focus here, on me."

Gaara stroked a hand down Kiba's face, and Naruto thought it was extremely daring to take that hand off of Kiba's chest. Kiba didn't try to get away though. In fact, he fell almost completely still, as if the entire world were held in Gaara's eyes alone. Gaara had returned to the man Naruto had met so many months ago. His eyes were soft, lighting only for the man in front of him. His tone was gentle, special for Kiba. His touch was careful. His entire being shifted to accommodate Kiba, to express an unspoken yet unmistakable vow of love.

"Amazing," Naruto whispered, entranced by it all and forgetting the threat to his life. "He's just... cured..."

"Cured?" Temari repeated tensely, having taken up a protective stance in front of Naruto again. "No."

It didn't matter who Naruto was referring to, Kiba or Gaara. This was not a cure.

"The first few moments of feeling the bond to your mate are euphoric, I hear." There was a slight change in her voice, climbing up past the tense alertness she displayed and making her shoulders relax ever so slightly. "They could care less for anything that isn't the other right now..." she added softly. And Naruto would bet that if he could see her eyes, they would be full of longing. She was with Kisame, but maybe they weren't as serious as Naruto had always just assumed they would be.

"But there's no cure for the thirst," Kankuro added, glancing back at Naruto. Temari glanced sideways at her brother, who returned her gaze when he added, "The bond is a cure for nothing."

Temari nodded in understanding, thankful for her brother's attempt at comfort.

Kankuro looked back at Naruto. "It's strong and it can keep you out of some very low places, that's for sure," he conceded, "but it can drag you down too. It's not always a good thing. For now, they may be lost in some euphoria, but Gaara will remember that he was feral only a couple hours ago when Kiba's urges push past that. Neither of them have the will necessary to resist, which is why you have to go."

"Oh, right." Naruto suddenly remembered that his friends were still dangerous creatures, no matter how tender the moment seemed to be.

"There's a studio one floor below that you can hang out in for the time being," Kankuro informed.

"But—" Naruto began to protest, wondering why he couldn't just go across the hall like he always did.

"Suite 1," Temari interjected, catching on.

"Now, Naruto," Kankuro demanded when Naruto opened his mouth to voice his thoughts again. "They're not gonna be this lucid forever."

Somewhat begrudgingly, Naruto did as he was told and left. Upon reaching his destination, he had to pause to just be impressed by the space of suite one. When the elevator doors tried to close him in again though, he jumped out.

First to demand his attention was the far wall, which was covered entirely in glass. He noticed that the studio had the same adjustable tint feature as the living suites above because that was all that could explain why it was so dark in the bulk of the space, except for the window pane farthest to the right, which was only tinted about half as much as the rest. The lighting let in by the tinted windows was dim. The tint at its highest could make a room fairly dark, but Naruto knew the suites above well enough to know that the tint on the darker panes was only at about halfway, which was enough light to see the features of the room just fine.

He glanced around the left half of the room, flippantly noticing the lounge area nestled next to the windows and the different types of storage cabinets that were directly to his left. He glanced briefly to the right, long enough to note that the area was a kitchen, and turned his attention to the most interesting part of the room. The bulk of the right half of the space was taken up by two columns of tables covered in various pieces of art. Most of the pieces were paintings, but not all of it was on canvas. Naruto could see pottery, old furniture that had been painted over, and a variety of other knickknacks that had been given an artistic touch.

Naruto mused that the space was probably Gaara's. Perhaps his art had been cathartic for him as of late. He tried to imagine Gaara in his usual crazed state painting a picture, which made him smile in amusement. The room was so quiet that Naruto could hear his footsteps echo when he started to moved toward the corner of art. Most of the art strewn about the tables was in line with the brightest window pane, so he was able to make out their features fairly well. Focusing his eyes as a bijuu could do helped too.

He meandered slowly around the table closest to him. He paused at each piece only momentarily, but he stopped for a prolonged period at a sculpture of a woman that was set on the ground between two tables. She was a few inches shorter than Naruto and only the basic cast form was complete. The molding clay to create the features had just begun to be put on. Almost everything below the neck was just a hard cast, but even so Naruto admired her form. There was some molding on the chest where two clavicles took slight shape. There was some clay on the neck, but most of the molding had been focused on the face so far.

Her features were beautiful. There was a small, pixie-like nose that peeped out. Her lips were thin and delicate. It was her eyes that really caught Naruto's attention though. They were, by far, the most detailed pieces on her form so far. They'd clearly been worked on tediously. He stepped closer, peering carefully at the detail, but his concentration was interrupted by a quiet sound. His heart started slightly and he whipped his head toward the windows. He leaned to see past some of the taller art pieces and realized that there was a form sitting right in front of the window. It became clear to Naruto by what he saw that the person was painting and the noise he was hearing was brushstrokes.

Naruto watched the motion of the person's hand, not moving or saying anything. He just listened intently. Shouldn't he have heard a person in a room this quiet? He focused to zone in on the sound of life—a heartbeat, slow and steady. Then came the slight whir of breath, which Naruto decided was abnormally slow. He was watching the person's hand as it painted strokes across the canvas, and there was no indication that the person wasn't breathing properly. Yet, Naruto decided that there was no way anyone could breathe that soft and slow.

Just when he made a final decision about what type of being he was seeing, the figure paused and turned their head. With the light behind them, though dimmed, it was difficult for Naruto to make out any definite features. What he'd seen so far was basically a silhouette, but he could see a slight smile on the person's profile as the light curled around their face. He didn't need his sight to know this person though. Hell, he didn't need any of his senses. Just his heart would do.

"You like her?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto's eyes flitted back to the sculpture and he nodded. "Very much."

"It's not quite right yet," Sasuke pointed out, his voice suddenly very close. "The feel is still off."

Naruto glanced to his side to see Sasuke standing beside him just a couple feet away, staring straight ahead at the sculpture. He could vaguely sense something spark in Sasuke's heart as he looked at the piece of art, but Naruto didn't try too hard to unravel it. He didn't hone in on it at all. Just as he didn't need to be a bijuu to recognize Sasuke, he didn't think he needed to be one to understand the man either. It almost felt like using his senses to dig into Sasuke deeply would ruin the integrity of whatever he found. He wanted to be connected Sasuke by the heart and not embellish anything.

So he'd let Sasuke set the pace. Sasuke could decide for himself how much he would open up and how much Naruto would receive from him. Naruto himself was open to anything Sasuke had to give. The question now was how much Sasuke was willing to share. And how open was he in return to Naruto? The answers to these questions were the things that would, inevitably, determine how prepared they truly were for each other's company.

Sasuke stepped forward and paused before hesitantly raising his hand and touching the face of the sculpture. It'd been a long time since Sasuke had touched this particular piece. He'd only just recently been able to take it out of storage and place it where he could see it again, but to acknowledge it so directly was something new. He was glad to be sharing this moment with Naruto, because it felt like a chance to prove how much work he'd done with learning to open up.

His fingers moved carefully across the apple of one cheek and the semi-constructed bridge of her nose before diverting up and around to trace the shape of the eye socket. Once his fingers reached full circle, he paused again.

"These are perfect," he murmured reverently.

Naruto paused sympathetically. While Sasuke wasn't flaunting his emotions too openly, it was still obvious that this was a tender moment for him.

"The eyes are everything," Naruto eventually pointed out. "Windows to the soul and all that crap."

Sasuke smiled and pulled his hand away. He looked back at Naruto over his shoulder with a light curiosity and asked, "You think I should I paint her?"

Naruto's eyes shifted to the sculpture to seamlessly avoid having to meet Sasuke's gaze. If he did, he knew he'd be sucked in. They weren't ready for that though. They were still feeling each other out. The last thing Naruto wanted to do was hole into Sasuke when he wasn't even sure the man was open to his presence yet. He shrugged casually, but Sasuke was wise to his covert tactic of avoiding. Unlike Naruto, Sasuke was tuned into every crevice of Naruto's being.

"I think you oughta do whatever pleases you," Naruto replied.

"But I want  _your_  opinion," Sasuke insisted, his gaze stuck to Naruto's face.

Naruto could sense the energy rolling off of Sasuke's body, and he decided that he didn't really like it. Sasuke was preoccupied with proving a point, so much so that he was forgetting to worry about the subtleties, which was all that mattered to Naruto. Naruto almost sighed, because it was clear that Sasuke was the one who was overly eager, which was known to be his domain. In the end, his answer was based on that fact alone.

"Color would make her..." Naruto trailed off, knowing the point he wanted to make but unsure of what word to use to make it.

"Real?" Sasuke suggested, but Naruto shook his head no.

"Fake, actually," Naruto said definitively. "It'd be distracting. It'd pull away from what she's really trying to say."

And Sasuke really needed to get her message before Naruto would accept him again.

Sasuke smirked, amused by the fact that Naruto was so confident that he could understand Sasuke's art so easily. "And what's that?" he asked.

Naruto could sense a slight smugness to Sasuke's tone, but he ignored it. Instead, he answered very seriously, "Nothing."

Sasuke almost chuckled at the pure simplicity of the reply, but the coolness to Naruto's expression as he finally looked at Sasuke's face drained all the humor away immediately. Even as Naruto's gaze scanned everything but Sasuke's actual eyes, there was an intensity to it that put Sasuke in the same serious mood.

"Then again," Naruto went on, "she's saying everything, anything you wanna hear."

Sasuke's lips pursed in thought and he looked back at his art piece, stepping back a step to appraise her more fully. Then, he nodded thoughtfully. "So... she's appeasing?" he asked curiously.

"Mmm, not exactly," Naruto disagreed. "I guess I shoulda said anything you  _need_  to hear," he corrected.

Sasuke had to recognize that Naruto's reply was sort of deep. Maybe he did understand after all.

"She certainly has a knack for putting the truth on display," Sasuke assured. His voice wasn't restrained at all, but the emotion emanated from it in heavy waves. He stood still and silent for a few long moments just to let Naruto feel what he was feeling before eventually asking, "Would you pay for her?"

A memory flashed in Naruto's mind. He walked through an art gallery full of art that did nothing to him. It all sat vaguely unrecognized on the walls around him, but there was one piece that sang volumes and reeled him in. It was clear and concise in his eyes as he remembered very nearly every little detail in it. In that gallery was where he'd first met Kiba. He never did get the art piece he wanted so badly.

_I would like to have a piece of you in my home..._

The words vibrated Sasuke's entire being, but Sasuke didn't know where they came from. He honestly didn't know whose thought it was. Naruto's, or his? He felt like it wouldn't even matter at this point though, like they were getting so close to one that it was silly to even try to separate.

"You selling?" Naruto asked, bringing them both back into the present moment.

Sasuke snorted softly and shook his head no. "She's nowhere near done. Just wondering."

"You like her too much to give away," Naruto guessed. "I always imagined you as someone who gets too attached to their art to sell," he added in a playful tone.

If what Sasuke felt hadn't been so heavy, he might have laughed and been thankful of that light tone. Alas, he was stuck in his head, thinking of his attachment to this particular piece and how it wasn't something to be made light of at all.

"I'm very attached to her," Sasuke admitted softly, and it was clear to Naruto this was another tender moment in the happening. "—so much so," Sasuke went on, "that I had to stow her in a dark corner for a long while, because I couldn't look at her, let alone sculpt her."

Sasuke had been inviting Naruto almost too eagerly to explore his aura, but Naruto hadn't experienced all that much this meeting nonetheless. It was almost as if Sasuke were giving Naruto permission to peruse him freely, but he wasn't doing what Naruto was. Naruto wasn't giving Sasuke freedom to unravel him. He was just being open. Sasuke wasn't going to hold Naruto back, but he wasn't letting himself go either. He was stuck somewhere in between, and as his emotions grew more raw and pure, that in between space grew smaller. As many strides as he'd made, there was still some aversion to emotion that he had yet to escape. It was building up so tightly in his heart then that he began to feel uncomfortable, so he blocked it off bit by bit, making Naruto think the encounter was coming to a close before it ever really began.

"I loved her so much that I couldn't name her for a very long time," Sasuke added, trying to balance his inclination to shy away with some remnant sense of openness, to prove that he wasn't afraid to be vulnerable for Naruto.

Naruto gave another sympathetic pause before asking, "What'd you eventually decide on?"

For a split second, Sasuke considered lying. But that would be to undo everything he'd done, so he forced himself to embrace the truth. Still, he could only manage a murmur of the word. "Ren."

The name did something to Sasuke, something he couldn't escape. There were too many unresolved issues between he and Ren still, too many wounds to seal up. While he'd come to peace with her absence, he'd yet to even touch on her actual loss. When it came to her, he found that he only knew two settings. He was either totally unmoved, or completely undone. And even then, neither of those reactions actually involved an outward expression. He could crumple to pieces on the inside but look no different on the out.

As much as he  _wanted_  to let himself be freely seen by Naruto, Sasuke could not help but confine the emotions inside. Then again, as much as he tried to control himself, he could not help the way his heart reacted with such severity either. Pain ripped through him as if unimpeded, but he was able to dial that down into an outward expression of nothing further than a thick gulp and the trembling exhale that followed. As for what made its way to Naruto, the leakage ended up being so small that it could be ignored. After all, Naruto had his own reaction to experience.

He felt a lot of things all at once—shock, pain for Sasuke's sake, curiosity. In the end, it helped Sasuke calm down to focus on Naruto and how little he felt what Sasuke was feeling.

Sasuke thought he understood though. Because Naruto already felt so much on the subject already, he just didn't have the capacity to focus on Sasuke. Of course Sasuke wasn't parading his pain, but Naruto could find it all on his own if he really tried. Thus, he wasn't trying. Plus, he didn't seem to be open to Sasuke the way that Sasuke was open to him anyway. Sasuke was in and around Naruto's aura as if it were his own. Naruto wasn't even trying though, so maybe he just didn't understand  _how_  to be that connected to Sasuke yet. But Sasuke couldn't give him that. Naruto had to find it for himself.

Naruto still didn't understand the details, because Sasuke still hadn't divulged, but he did understand that Ren's tragedy was what had made Sasuke who he was. This was her. These were her eyes, her perfect eyes. Unsure if it was appropriate, or if it would even be fruitful, to ask about her story, Naruto chose to make a simple observation to start.

"You look similar," he pointed out. "Now that you're healthy again, I can see the resemblance well."

Sasuke said nothing at first, but he did smile softly to himself. That was enough to relinquish him of the heavy grip on his heart and urge him back into casual territory. So Naruto  _had_  noticed all that Sasuke had done to improve himself. Naruto could feel the smugness fill Sasuke's aura again and things shifted right back into seeming like Sasuke was only here to prove a point.

"I have a proposition for you."

Yep. Here it comes.

"No thank you," Naruto immediately interjected, already able to predict where things were going.

Sasuke looked back at Naruto and the blond averted his gaze, looking down at the ground. He could vaguely feel the complexity of Sasuke's reaction. The man felt a lot of things in one moment, and Naruto knew that what he'd say next would only further hurt Sasuke's heart too. It wasn't going to be easy to say this to Sasuke, not when the raven was so damn eager to get things underway, not when he was trying so hard to show Naruto that he was ready.

Naruto bit his lip and worried it hard. "I... I'm not..." His voice began to disappear with his conviction.

Sasuke understood though, so he wouldn't force Naruto to say it. There was a sadness in his eyes that he didn't want Naruto to see, so he looked away as he said, "It's okay."

Naruto looked up at the back of Sasuke's head and Sasuke shrugged, adding, "Whenever you are, I'm ready."

Thinking it was best to leave it at that, Sasuke flashed away. It seemed like an instantaneous thing to Naruto, and he was slightly shocked to hear Sasuke's voice coming from far away again.

"I owe you something."

Naruto looked over to see Sasuke back at his stool, paint and brush in hand as if he'd never stopped painting in the first place.

"If you want it, it's on the counter to the left of elevator," Sasuke informed.

_To be continued..._


	23. My Story To Tell

Naruto pauses for a long moment and I can tell he's contemplating something heavily. I try to let him feel his thoughts in privacy, but I don't know how. Rooting through his aura is automatic.

I've shut him off before, many times, but it was never easy. At first, it was hard because I hadn't developed the skill. Even after I'd mastered the skill, though, the emotional detachment was hard to handle. Although, I must admit that living through his bodily experiences as if they were my own was pretty damn good motivation to get me to flip his switch off in my head. Once he started... "fooling around", it was clear that lingering was far more emotionally traumatizing than just letting him go.

After I figured out how to shut him off, I realized that I didn't  _have_  to. I could manipulate it and keep him as close or as far as I wanted, so he became like a third conscience to me. He operates at all times within my head but I can tune in to him like flipping channels on a tv and it's entirely voluntary. Before, I couldn't help it. These days, I can turn my attention away and let that be that. Right now, however, it's not a question of skill. It's a matter of will power, and the fact that I have none when it comes to Naruto. I've theorized that it must have something to do with the exchange we technically made a long time ago.

I know the basics about bijuu, but I don't know everything. In fact, vampires as a whole don't know everything there is to know about bijuu. How could we? Bijuu are sorta supposed to be our enemy. Of course, that idea is archaic. The rivalry has pretty much leveled out by now. Still, it's not like it's accepted for vampires and bijuu to become friends and share secrets. Kankuro only knows so much because he went out and did a lot of research into it on his own, seeing as the department he plans on joining within VSAF is centered around bijuu.

What I do know about bijuu assures me that you can't escape making a bond with one. The exchange is fixed. There are ways to keep from being controlled, but the semantics are over my head. I never once thought I'd actually meet a bijuu, let alone fall in love with one. After all, there are only ever ten in the entire world. Whatever the details, I have an inkling that my pull toward Naruto has to do with our blood bond. I'm not sure how blood bonds even began—the reasons could be plenty—but creating one with a human is a strong force, and that force is magnified who knows how many times when it's between a vampire and a bijuu. It was inevitable that Naruto would become the center of my world.

Things didn't pan out so easily between us though, thanks to my hard head and stupidity. I shoved him away from me, and then I had to find a way to shut him outta my head when he started living his life differently. Cause let's be honest, it's both sickening and maddening to experience everything he's doing with other people. I'd even call it torture. Even secondhand filtering wasn't enough to make it seem like anything but absolutely real. Hell, at times I could almost swear those things were happening to  _me_! It was hell to go through, but I caused it.

No matter what, though, he's still a part of me that can't be released. He can never be released from my heart. At the same time, hanging on to him slowly goaded me back into a dark corner. I began to think I'd be content to continue the drugs and find a new Sai to play with. I might've gone back to starving myself, but it's more likely that I would've re-embraced the leeching lifestyle. All these possibilities pulled at me when I no longer had Naruto to protect or be a better man for. He rejected me. So what was left to fight for? He gave me vitality, and then he took it away.

The drugs would've been twice as fulfilling, because there was so much more pain for them to soothe. The frivolous sex would've been justified. After all, that's what Naruto was doing. Why not me too? The leeching would've been supreme too. God, to taste human blood again, to smell the adrenaline of prey. Even now, I'm almost tempted. Not enough though. Despite how easily I could've assimilated back into the pitiful man I'd become, I didn't. That's mostly, if not entirely, thanks to Itachi.

Itachi kept me clean. He literally spent every day with me for weeks. It was a painfully slow progression, but the frayed ends between he and I began to mend. The more clear of mind I became, the more I could recognize his sacrifice. He truly would do anything for me, and that's so obvious that not even my stubborn eyes could miss it. I was pathetic before, but I was as low as low could be after Naruto was truly gone. Itachi held me up though, and he became the one thing I could rely on. He became the platform I used to raise myself up again, and it worked.

Naruto's presence in my heart was painful and it pushed me toward terrible things, but I resisted and purified myself. Not for him. No, for me. To live in reality and pull myself outta the fantasy I'd chosen to live in for years, I accepted Naruto as a part of me. Whether he ever accepted me again or not, he'd be the center of my heart for the rest of my potentially eternal life. I knew I could learn to be okay with that. I'd have to, because it was what it was. That's when I started to figure our bond out and learn to manipulate its presence to me as I choose.

So, yes, I'm perfectly capable of shutting Naruto off if I wish. I just don't wanna right now.

I crave him. I crave the connection between us more than ever before. I have a hunger for him, a hunger that differs from bloodlust entirely but is dangerous in its own ways. Seeing him right before my eyes, close enough to touch, after so long did something to me. I wanna explore the recesses of his mind, to know what he's feeling and thinking, to know if it's as centered around me as I am around him. My body just won't turn away from him.

I continue instructing myself to stop tuning in to him, but I don't listen. It all happens so fast anyway, so I can only experience it as it comes.

Images flicker through my head and I'm not sure exactly how they got there. Part of me thinks it's just my imagination trying to translate his aura into imagery. Then another part of me thinks he's literally putting his thoughts in my head. He's capable of that, I know, but he doesn't seem particularly proficient in his abilities yet. The communication between us is still so disjointed that I don't think he'd even able to do something so advanced with me. I mean, rooting through my aura is pretty damn simple and he didn't even do that throughout the entire time we were talking.

It's easy for me to decipher what's happening right now. The things I'm seeing in my head are depicting Naruto's struggle. It's the same thing that happened to me for so very long. He's missing me, and he's mustering up the strength to turn his back and walk away from me when he really wishes to just stay.

I can  _feel_  his heart reaching out toward me, and I wanna reach back. I wanna grab him and pull him close. It's not time though. He said it himself, or at least he tried. He's not ready. He needs more time. The communication between us has to evolve. He needs to tune in to me the way I do with him. I wanna reach back, but I don't. I can't. Not yet.

Eventually, he manages to turn his body away. I can sense the effect it has on him. He doesn't like walking away from me. It's endearing how pure and simple his intentions are. He just wants my company and nothing more. It's like he recognizes that a relationship isn't quite in the cards yet, but he wants to pass the time together anyway. The more I analyze him, the more it starts to seem like he's feeling a sense of responsibility for me. He feels like he needs to be close so he can guide me to the end result, but I'm not the one who needs guiding. Who's holding who back is trivial though, because his heart is breaking right now and that's all that matters.

But I don't worry. Nothing'll break between us. Nothing'll snap or rip or fade away. The twisted love we've come to share is there, like it's always been. Through all the turning away from each other we've done, what's between us still remains. He can't run from me, nor can I run from him.

I'm able to tamp down some of his buzzing in my head, but I still won't shut him off. I notice his reaction to the painting I've directed him to and the conflict it causes. To take or not to take? After a few long moments of studying it, he says something that seems totally unrelated to the painting.

"You can't paint her because you're not supposed to bring color to her," he murmurs.

When I look back at him, he's still staring at the painting intently. I can tell he's talking to himself, but he doesn't try to mute what he's saying. He's speaking freely, knowing subconsciously I'll hear but consciously not concerned with my presence at all. I guess that speaks to the level of comfort he feels with me, or maybe it speaks to a developed defense of the ability to ignore me. I recognize he's talking about Ren, but I don't know why the painting has inspired it. Curious as to where this'll go, I listen quietly to anything he might have to add.

"She brings color to you, not the other way around."

Thoughtfulness has made his voice quiet, but I hear him clearly enough.

After another short pause, he adds almost imperceptibly, even for me, "Now if only you could see."

The utterance is punctuated by the ding of the elevator. I don't stop him as he leaves. I just watch him grab the painting by the frame and disappear behind the elevator doors. I've already searched his aura for clarity, but he has this weird ability to become very confusing at times. His emotions toward me are usually very direct, especially when we're face to face, but that's not always the case. He can actually be a very ambiguous being.

I can't really decide what he's trying to say to me, but I feel like it's important. Because he isn't particularly tuned in to me, he doesn't notice me imploring, nor does he notice my curiosity or confusion lingering. I could project myself and, in a sense, force myself into his face. He's so naturally sensitive that I could get him to pick up on me with enough intention behind my emotions, even if he's not necessarily aware of me.

I don't though, because I can sense his aura shifting as his attention is pulled to other things. He's already gone anyway, and I don't think he'd come back just to explain himself, no matter how much I throw my emotions in his face. He'll be expecting me to decode this on my own, if I even heard the comment at all.

The meaning behind his words escapes me. Have I not been seeing the color Ren brought me? Haven't I been making huge changes and becoming a better me? I mean, c'mon. How much more colorful can I get? I know I've got some adjustments to make still, but a man can only change so much in an allotted period of time. Does he really expect me to be all rainbows and butterflies so quickly?

There's something deeper to the wording. There must be. There's a cryptic message somewhere. I just have to find it. To be honest, it's kinda exciting to be stumped like this. It's almost like a game. How long until I can figure Naruto out? Maybe it's a test. If I can decipher him, he'll deem me worthy of his heart again. The fact that he might be testing me seems silly though. Does he even realize that the one in need of change isn't actually me? The one who needs to be tested is him. How much more ready for Naruto could  _I_  get? He's the one who stills needs to adjust to being in a relationship with a vampire. I've done my adjusting already.

I've adjusting to accepting such a fragile being at my side. I've made many accommodations, strengthened my own will, and become more "human" for him. He needs to learn to become more supernatural for me now. I can only meet him halfway, because it's clear through Gaara and Kiba's example that making all the adjustments on my own won't work. Unlike Kiba though, Naruto is capable of meeting me in the middle. While I can suppress myself for him, he can also elevate himself for me. He needs to use his abilities against me, but he's not, and I can only assume that it's because he can't. Then again, I know he can do some extraordinary things already.

Maybe his growth is situational. He's really good at psychically connecting to Kiba, but he struggled to do the same with Gaara. His functionality might be affected by his relationship to the person he's with. His stress levels might play a part in it too. We haven't had a lot of time together nor have we built a particularly healthy relationship, so maybe his abilities aren't coming to him naturally for me yet because he lacks the specific experience between us.

Seems like a good enough excuse, but I have to explore more deeply too. I have to muse that maybe it's not that he lacks skill, and maybe it's not that he lacks experience either. Maybe it's fear. Maybe he's  _choosing_  to not connect to me because he's still deciding if he wants to invest in me. Rather than out of inability, perhaps he's just too scared to explore my energy. My personal experience attests; being vulnerable is scary.

He could be lacking courage. He could be scared of attaching to me again. Could be lots of things, but it doesn't much matter. Whether the disconnection is because he's afraid or because he's unable, it's still there. And it's not me. Not to pin blame, but it's him. He's the one who isn't ready for me, yet he's leaving me with cryptic comments as some sort of test. Then again, maybe it's not a test. I just assumed that.

God. Look at me. I'm running tirelessly around my own brain, and the confusion remains. What is he saying to me?

I sigh and relax. With his physical being gone, I feel way more capable of tamping down the connection between us. I let it fall to a dull murmur, so I can sense if anything huge happens to him, but I mostly reclaim my own mind and let him be in privacy.

It's like we're at two extremes. I give him almost no privacy and he rejects my presence entirely. We both have to find middle ground though. He can't just ignore our connection all the time and I can't focus on it so much either. We both need to find a comfortable in between, which means we'll both have to find our way to the other's extreme. I've done my part though. I've learned the extreme of shutting him off entirely, so I'm capable of floating in between now. It's up to him to learn how to experience me fully so he can find his own in between too.

I'm back to playing the blame game, aren't I?

Whatever Naruto wants me to see is connected to Ren, but to him too. They have some secret they aren't telling me, and I don't like that. But I do. On one hand, it's another obstacle before being at his side again. On the other, it's something to pursue. Conflicted on so many levels, I look to Ren's sculpture. Even her half-constructed face seems smug with understanding.

**~ ( >^.^)> <(^.^<) ~**

"Sasuke?" Itachi beckons.

Though his voice is soft, the concern grabs my attention and pulls me from my own head. I look sideways at him and notice his hand is on my shoulder. I glance at it, vacantly recognizing his attempt to invade my aura with a sense of ease.

His eye brows pull together in more magnified concern when I don't respond to his attempt at calming me. An important aspect of him aiding in my recovery was our bond becoming strong. I understand that me being closed off to him distresses him now that he's tasted the connection we can have. It's not that I'm purposely shutting him out. It's just...

How can I be calm? I've been trying to tune in to Kiba for hours, but nothing has come of it. I know he's not gone, like dead gone. He's just hidden. I can't sense him at all, and that pisses me off. The fuck is he hiding from  _me_  for?

I try finding him again, but I run into a proverbial wall and almost flinch at the repulsion.

"That's not gonna get you anywhere," Itachi points out. His tone has shifted to sympathy, and that pisses me off even more.

"I know," I snap, shrugging his hand off irritably.

"Talk to me," Itachi requests.

"And what'll that solve?" I automatically reply.

I literally  _feel_  hurt grip his heart, making my anger wane. Guilt takes its place. Itachi is only here to help, after all. Why am I lashing out at him?

"It's just..." I huff in exasperation. "Does nobody else think this is insane?"

I know my eyes must be portraying the worry I can't stifle. If I do, I'll just be shutting Itachi out and hurting him again. And when I chose to let him into my life, I vowed to treat him differently. It's not sappy. Just the truth. I promised myself that I'd love him because that's what I need to do to change. I'm determined to change, so I'm determined to love Itachi too. That means being honest and open, even if I don't like it all the time.

"Kiba is  _changed_ ," I point out emphatically. "He's a  _vampire_  now. Gaara  _bit_  him and made him into one! Nobody else has a problem with that?!"

Itachi shrugs. "Figured it'd happen some day," he says simply.

I gape for a moment, because how vastly different our points of view are is astonishing to me. I should've guessed though. Itachi chose this lifestyle, and he chose it for Deidara too. Someone who can play with mortality so easily wouldn't understand my perspective.

"You and I are on completely different planets with this one," I say, shaking my head. "You're careless with human life."

He processes my comment for a moment and then says, "I was very careful with Deidara's life."

I raise my brows in a challenge. "You call taking his life away care?"

Itachi's eyes narrow slightly and I can sense that we're getting into touchy territory. "Your point of view is too extreme. It allows no room for variety."

"Because there isn't any!" I exclaim. "If I wanted variety, I'd change my point of view!"

"So you're angry because Kiba doesn't have the same values as you?" he asks.

"No! I'm angry because no one should be trusting Gaara!" I practically yell. "Have you forgotten what he's done to me? He bit Naruto, Itachi.  _My_  Naruto," I stress. "He had no right to touch what's mine!"

"Many have touched Naruto," Itachi points out.

Out of shock, my jaw drops. How can he be so candid about that?

"What?" Itachi shrugs. "It's true. Naruto is no stranger to vampire bites, or beds."

Outraged, I holler, "What're you getting at?!"

Itachi sighs as if weary. "Nothing, Sasuke. I'm simply pointing out the facts. Naruto left you. He's not yours to possess."

Itachi sees something spark within me. He reaches out to touch me again, intending to smolder the emotion before it can engulf me and swallow me whole, but I dodge him and turn my back. I try to stuff away what he's seen. I'm so angry that I don't want him near me anymore, let alone in my aura understanding parts of me he's just lost the right to witness. I try to shut him out, but he hugs me from behind. His cheek rests against my shoulder and he just holds me loosely. Nothing is spoken, but I feel his intentions seep into my heart, and I can't be angry.

"You found a way to be at peace with Naruto," Itachi says softly. "Can you not find your peace with this too?"

"No," I say automatically, because I don't wanna.

"You do understand that Naruto caused all of this, right?" Itachi points out. I say nothing, so he goes on, "Naruto went to Gaara and asked to be bitten. He suggested that Gaara change Kiba. He created the plan and then made it happen."

"But Gaara is in control of his own body," I retort.

"But Naruto was in control of the situation," Itachi argues.

"It doesn't matter what role Naruto played," I insist. "The responsibility is on Gaara. He's being selfish."

"He's being you." Itachi pulls away from me and rounds my body to look me in the eyes, both hands on my shoulders to keep his emotions flowing into me so that his intentions stay clear. "Sasuke, be forthright with me. Is this anger of yours borne of insecurity?"

I snort automatically and glance way, folding my arms across my chest. "It's got nothing to do with insecurity," I claim. "It's logical fact. The one time I actually want Kiba, he's outta reach. I want something. Can't have it. Makes me angry. Simple."

"You fear he's finally turned you away for good," Itachi guesses.

I don't say anything because I can't deny truthfully but I'm not willing to concede so easily. Itachi can feel my heart anyway. Do I really have to humiliate myself and admit to something like that so openly?

"You fear they won't forgive you?" Itachi adds uncertainly.

"Forgive me for what?" I snap. "I've done nothing wrong." My chin inclines on its own, but I miss how much that makes me seem like I'm pouting.

Itachi hums in soft recognition. "You don't like the sting of rejection."

"I know what you're thinking," I say. "This is how you all felt when I went through my stages of grief with Ren."

He doesn't reply, but when I look up into his eyes the answer is clear. I'm right.

"This isn't the same though," I go on. "A huge decision to change Kiba's  _life_  was made, and I'm being excluded entirely."

"Did you not change your life?" Itachi retorts. "In fact, you changed your life many times, and no one was able to say a thing to you."

I grind my teeth and avert my gaze again, because I can't argue.

"I was forced into this lifestyle Itachi," I say, my voice quiet. "Father made me this way. Forgive me if I can't watch Gaara do the same to Kiba."

"Kiba  _chose_  this," Itachi reminds me.

"For Gaara!" I exclaim, my eyes snapping back up to Itachi's. "He chose this to make  _Gaara_  happy!"

Itachi stays quiet for a short moment, just analyzing me. Eventually, he says, "This has nothing to do with Kiba changing."

He let's me stew on the fact that he's figured me out, giving me room to react however I please. I just slump in defeat.

"You've always been angry at Gaara for his relationship with Kiba," he acknowledges. "I know you don't like the idea of him taking Kiba away, but this is not like Ren." I glance away but he takes my head and forces me to look at him square again. "You are not losing anyone, Sasuke."

I swallow a huge lump in my throat and eventually nod in understanding. Itachi nods back, sure his point has been made.

"I understand that it's hard to watch this happen from the sidelines and not be involved, but you simply can't be a part of anything right now. None of us can. The isolation is necessary, and you know that. If you wish to be close to Kiba, then just be straightforward," he advises. "No one enjoys your roundabout ways of expressing yourself. If you miss him, just say so. I'm sure Gaara will allow you to be the first to see Kiba if you just ask. Nicely."

I nod again and we leave the conversation at that.

**~ ( >^.^)> <(^.^<) ~**

Artist's block. I've got it. Then again, it's not really like that.

Ren was a real human being. I saw her face, held her hand, felt her warmth. She existed. She wasn't imaginary. The issue isn't my ability to imagine or create her. It's my ability to get her outta my head and into clay. Can it be considered artist's block if it actually has nothing to do with imagining or creating something? Then again, she never existed at this age. So, in actuality, a lot is left up to imagination.

I inhale deeply before releasing a slow breath to dissipate my frustration. I don't wanna get riled up.

I won't admit in plain terms that I miss Kiba, because I don't. Am I concerned about his health and well-being? Yes. Do I wanna make sure he's in good shape? Absolutely. Am I interested in his dynamic with Gaara these days? Definitely. Would I go so far as to say I'm craving his company or missing him? No, but I will say I wanna see him. The intrigue is part curiosity and part concern, but it's entirely present and constantly niggling at the back of my head.

But I can't see him yet, and I know that. His instinctive side is still dying down.

This is all part of being a vampire. Sometimes, you just forget yourself. It takes a lot of skill to learn to not give in to the bestial side. It takes vampires years to master that kind of self-control. Being such a fresh vampire, Kiba won't even care about who he is anymore. From his perspective, the world is full of enemies and meals. Nothing more, nothing less. Gaara, of course, will be in a category of his own as trusted mate, but other than that the world is pretty black and white for Kiba. Other vampires will seem like immediate danger to him and humans will be nothing but a meal.

I recognize that Kiba is still trying to figure his own self out right now. It takes a lot to push the instinct down and temper yourself as a newly-changed vampire. Kiba needs his time. I know that. I don't plan on imposing myself before he's ready.

I'm taking Itachi's advice. I haven't contacted Gaara to let him know that, as Itachi put it, I "miss" Kiba, but I will. Eventually. Maybe. For now, my solution is to stay nearby so my energy isn't totally foreign to him. In his first few months, he'll be very wary, so the best I can do is not be a total stranger. It's at least a start.

The task here is to build something new. The old Kiba is gone, and so is any connection between he and I. His personality and traits and quirks will all come back eventually, but it'll take a while to return in earnest. For now, I have to work on building a relationship with the new him. If I'm lucky and don't act make an ass of myself, he might eventually accept me as a part of his coven too.

This is just step one though, being calm and creating a comfortable atmosphere for him to reconnect with me in. Step two involves burying my pride and extending my hand to them properly, but this is fine for now. The atmosphere practically creates itself. Through my fight for reform, I've discovered a "zen" place inside myself. It's where I go to draw strength when I feel the anxiety that not being totally isolated causes me, and it works. Still, though, I procrastinate for a couple weeks anyway.

Maybe it's because I'm still mad at Gaara. Maybe I'm just delaying because of my own lingering insecurity. Maybe I'm just giving Kiba extra time to acclimate to me. I don't spend too much energy doing any deep introspection into the matter because I don't wanna create an emotional outburst from myself. My studio is close enough that I could effect Kiba easily. I don't wanna overwhelm him with my energy. That's good enough reasoning for me to avoid the topic and just keep on procrastinating, even if I was the one who was complaining about how infuriating it is to have to wait for Kiba. The waiting comes to an end whether I want it to or not though. Invitation be damned, Gaara and Kiba come to me on their own terms.

I'm stewing over the proportion of Ren's cheeks when the elevator dings. I'm expecting them. After all, they've sorta become my new Naruto. Because of my relentless presence, the invisible wall between us has slowly been diminishing and I've been obsessively imploring their energies.

First to reveal himself to me is Gaara. He steps out of the elevator and locates me with his eyes. We exchange gazes and silently come to an instant agreement: this is by no means at all a reflection of the relationship between he and I. For Kiba's sake, he's indulging me. I have no desire to hash things out with him either, so it's a pretty mutual decision that Kiba will be the only focus between us. I suppose it'll be a while yet until we get to tearing down the walls between us, but I accepted months ago that my reinvention would be a slow process. I've gotta take it one person at a time. For now, Kiba is the priority, and we're both okay with that.

I understand my role without it having to be explained to me. I'm to teach Kiba how to be a vampire.

What they've been doing holed up in their suite is probably pretty basic. I'm sure Gaara taught Kiba how to hone his senses so he isn't overwhelmed. They probably worked on self-control too. At least I hope so. And I'm sure they created an indicator for when things become too much. With him in front of me, I can sense that Gaara is remarkably back to his old self. The control he was always known for has returned full force, but a new vampire is tumultuous at best. Gaara must still have some struggles containing both of their urges. An indicator is necessary for when either of them is reaching the brink of what they can handle. That's between them though.

I'm Kiba's safe space, and I worked damn hard for it so I'm pleased with myself about it too. With me, Kiba will learn about interacting with other vampires. Vampire children usually learn these things from their families, but Kiba doesn't have that at this age. It'd be too risky to take him out in public, so they need a sort of test dummy. I'm clearly volunteering.

With things established between us, Gaara glances over his shoulder and reaches one hand to the still-hidden Kiba. He can sense me, I'm sure. I see Kiba reach back and take Gaara's hand, but it takes a firm tug from Gaara before he's persuaded to exit the safety of the elevator. His eyes dart right to me and he tenses significantly. Gaara guides him inside, but there comes a point when Kiba simply refuses to come any closer. I watch him all the while, analyzing his state of being and assessing how careful I should be when interacting with him.

I nod at him, but he doesn't react. He feels threatened by me, but I won't attack him. In an attempt to make that known, I bow my head deeply. I want him to see that I'm not afraid to be vulnerable in front of him. That puts him in a position of power, and it does make him relax somewhat. When I look back up, it looks like the stick that's been shoved up his butt has receded at least a little bit.

At this point, Kiba isn't open to bonding with other beings. He simply needs to learn how to unravel them. So I don't do much talking. I find it best to just go about my business and largely ignore them when they come down, which they do daily. I know Kiba is just discovering his ability to understand other beings fluidly, but knowing he's exploring my aura sorta makes me squirm under his scrutiny. Despite all I've done to become as open as can be, I clam up. I shut doors selectively, manipulating what he sees of me into fragments of information I'm comfortable with sharing.

Gaara doesn't monitor me in any way, and I'm not sure if it's because he's just that focused on Kiba or if he's devoutly ignoring me. Either way, I'm glad. It might've been too much pressure having them both on me at once. I'm still fresh to this whole building bonds thing. Insecurity is reasonable.

With Kiba, this is my purpose. He's  _supposed_  to figure me out. Even then, I still have some lingering uncertainty about what I feel like I can and can't share. With Gaara, the case is different. I'm not comfortable with him exploring me freely. I can't explain it. I just feel like he and I would have to do that one on one. Even if I'm dedicated to changing within every facet of my life, it's still a process. I can't just be loving and kind to everyone in one day.

Gaara stays unobtrusive though. He takes on a very passive role and spends most of his time silently emboldening Kiba with careful touches and soft whispers, teaching through experience rather than example. As the days go on, I become more confident that he's not gonna pounce on me so I can actually let my guard down. In a way, my own hesitations work out for the best. The pace at which I slowly open up is good for both me and Kiba. I never have to reveal more than I'm ready to, and he never has to face more than he's capable of. It's good this way.

We face hiccups, of course. There are days when I'm especially wound up and Kiba literally spends the whole time grimacing as he struggles to handle the intensity. For him, there are really only 2 settings: picking up everything, or picking up nothing. My inconsistency helps him learn to operate in the space between though, because real, live people will be unpredictable. My mini-outbursts are good for him in the end, because they teach him how to temper things on his own, especially since Gaara makes it a point to tune out of us both entirely while we're all together. Kiba is truly on his own when it comes to handling me in our sessions.

Some days he handles me better than others, and the same can be said for me. Sometimes I confront him too bluntly. He doesn't like being directly addressed. In fact, if I aim anything at him directly he gets defensive. It takes a long time before I'm even able to look at him without him freezing up or else hissing at me. There are good days and bad ones, but they all end up being useful in the end.

Eventually, I realize I'm not picking and choosing anymore. I'm just relaxed. I'm just me. Totally me. And Kiba is comfortable with that.

Once I'm completely unhindered in his presence, he spends a few extra days exploring me thoroughly. Once he's satisfied his curiosity I guess, the task of coexisting comfortably is complete. It's not just that he knows more about me than I'd be willing to openly express, but he now has the tools to figure me out. He's learned the ins and outs of reading another being. With the instinctive feeling of his life being in constant imminent danger gone, he's able to relax and focus on being himself again.

This progress becomes apparent one day when I'm idly painting a canvas. I'm not invested in it at all. I honestly don't even really recognize my brush strokes. I just sorta go on doing it mechanically as I pretend to be brain dead. I'm just not functioning well today. I know Kiba and Gaara are in the studio, but they're being as quiet as always so I just go on staring blankly at my half-assed painting and ignoring them.

"She wouldn't be skinny," Kiba suddenly says.

I pause and my mind comes back to me. I look over my shoulder to first see Gaara, who's turned and looked over his shoulder at Kiba in astonishment too. Kiba is standing in front of Ren, appraising her and paying no mind to Gaara or me.

"She wouldn't be fat either," he adds, tilting his head. "But, no, she wouldn't be skinny."

Gaara and I trade glances.

"Should I work on her today?" I ask Kiba, standing from my stool.

The action startles him and he snaps his eyes to me, getting instantly defensive. I have a bad feeling that I've acted too rashly and fear he'll retreat back into himself. He stares at me for a long moment and then nods. I take that happily and get my molding clay. For the first few minutes, he stays silent and watches me flounder helplessly as I try to create a woman I can no longer even conceptualize. Then he takes it upon himself to save the monstrosity that she's becoming.

"I think her cheeks would be a little rounder," he says.

I make it a point to not look back at him, lest I come of ass threatening. He reaches around me and touches her chin, demonstrating a curve far more dramatic than the one she has now.

"And her chin would be angled more like this," he adds. "She was delicate like that," he murmurs as he pulls away.

I nod thoughtfully and agree. "You're right. She looks like a man right now."

Kiba actually snickers at the comment and I feel absolutely invigorated. I glance at Gaara and I know that we're sharing the same tentative glee. Kiba is making a comeback. I'm just one vampire in all the world and he won't have the same amount of time to acclimate to them all, but it's still a big step. I'm one more person he can trust, and that means a lot to a person who doesn't feel like they can trust anyone. I know that from personal experience.

Together, Kiba and I explore how deeply sad Ren makes us, but we discover how incredibly cathartic it is to recreate her this way too. We don't ever sit down and talk about the past. We just understand where we're both coming from on that frontier. I've had plenty of time, years and years and years, to decipher Kiba's innermost thoughts and feelings, and now he's finally had the chance to see mine too. We understand each other, and neither of us feel the need to make it a verbal thing.

I can't be angry with Gaara for changing Kiba anymore, because I realize that this peace between us would never have come about otherwise. The closer we get, the more I have to realize that I don't think I'd be able to go back to functioning without Kiba again. It took a lot to let Itachi back into heart, but I did, and I'm better for it. I'm clean because of him. I've got no leeching tendencies whatsoever because of him. He gave me every piece of me that I have. Naruto made me realize I was missing from my own body, Itachi helped me find myself again, and now Kiba is taking me into the realm of true healing. He can never leave my life again. Simple as that. And I know he won't, because one day he makes it very clear to me when he invites me to be part of his coven.

"I want you to travel with me," he says.

When I glance at him, he's looking at me very seriously.

"Travel?" I repeat. I feel like this is the last thing he should be concerned about right now. He has so much growing to do still.

He nods. "I'm planning on going somewhere very specific for my final change."

My brows rise in surprise. "Final change? What?"

He glances away and bites his lip, alerting me that the topic is touchy. "I haven't had Gaara's blood yet."

I'm shocked. He won't be a true vampire until he drinks the blood of the one who changed him. Gaara is perfectly accessible, so...

"Why the wait?" I ask.

He sighs. "Gaara's been pressuring me too..."

"I'm not pressuring you," I assure. "I guess you'll do it when you're ready."

When he looks up at me, I can see a deep conflict in his eyes and I tentatively implore.

"I'm not avoiding it just to avoid it," he says. "Honestly, I don't know... if I can..." He hesitates and then says, "I've been on supplements strictly."

I nod in understanding. "You don't know if you can handle the real thing. You think you'll be driven mad and hurt someone."

He grimaces and nods.

"It's not like human blood," I inform. "It's different. You'll be affected, but the bloodlust won't go outta whack like when human blood is involved. It's even milder than animals."

He takes a deep breath and nods. "Okay," he says softly, and I can tell he's trying to let the information kill his anxiety. It doesn't though.

"Gaara will take care of you," I assure. "He always has."

"I know, I know," Kiba says. "It's easy to stay in control at home, and it'd be easy for him to catch me before I could do anything impulsive." His brows furrow slightly. "But I absolutely have to travel," he insists. "I can't do this at home."

"Why?" I ask.

He swallows thickly. "I... I wanna be at Ren's grave... and I want  _you_  in my coven, to feel safe. Don't you think she'd wanna see us do this together?"

I'm the one who looks away this time, mumbling, "I don't think she'd wanna see you do this at all."

"But I have," he says without missing a beat. "If I don't, I'll just die."

"If you don't drink Gaara's blood," I clarify. "If you don't go to Ren's grave, you'll be perfectly fine."

Kiba grabs my shoulder and his aura spills into me heavily. He's new to intentionally sending his emotions to others, so he's not good at giving them in doses. I have to swat his hand away and catch my breath. When I look back up at his face, he's grimacing and his eyes are filling with tears.

"Sasuke..." His voice is small and quivering. "I need you."

I sigh in defeat, because I couldn't deny if I wanted to. Kiba needs a coven to trust in during these early stages, and his personality is the type to seek strong bonds like that. I never was, but I feel it now. I want a coven too. I wanna feel safe.

"The feeling's mutual..."

I like the way he smiles in understanding. Words can be sparse between us, just the way I like it, and he still gets me. It's a good feeling. Freeing. Now if only Naruto and I could get here too.

I glance back at Ren's face. Not so smug anymore. Maybe I'm beginning to understand whatever Naruto was alluding to.

_To be continued..._


	24. A True Union

"Naruto..."

The word was hardly more than a whisper, perhaps no more than even a breath of air, but it didn't need to be.

Blue eyes shifted from the painting that had become an almost daily distraction to the figure that murmured his name. There was a calm about Naruto that the blond would have previously associated with Sasuke. The raven always had this composure about him, this sense of propriety that seemed to linger in even his most crazed moments. In this moment, however, Sasuke looked as unsettled as Naruto supposed he'd been in a long, long while.

Almost entirely unmoved by Sasuke's sudden appearance or the sense of urgency he seemed to carry in every fiber of his body, Naruto could not recede from the atmosphere he'd created for himself so quickly. Indeed, it took a few lingering moments after his focus breaking his focus for the intensity his scrunched brows held to relax, although the tension did not entirely dissipate.

Naruto didn't meet Sasuke's eyes right away. He first checked the man over for any outstanding imperfections. Fortunately, Sasuke looked well. Healthy. Happy even. Anxious, nervous, and all around fidgety, but happy. Or at least that was what Naruto gleaned from a first glance interpretation of Sasuke's state of physical being.

Sasuke reacted to the silent appraisal, swallowing a lump of nerves in his throat and attracting Naruto's attention. Blue eyes flickered up to finally meet deep brown. Naruto's face had finally relaxed into a content visage, his aura's intensity fizzling down. He simply watched Sasuke, refusing to poke or prod. Instead, he waited for Sasuke to do the opening up, and Sasuke did. Bashfulness singed his cheeks as he averted his gaze while prying open his own defenses to give Naruto room to delve deeply into his aura.

Sasuke had been physically absent from the city for a while now. Naruto hadn't asked too many questions in his absence, which surprised everyone. He was satisfied to know that Sasuke was gone with Gaara and Kiba. He hadn't even asked for details about  _why_. He didn't need to though. He had a feeling, or maybe it was more of a hope, that things would finally have fallen into place the next time he saw Sasuke's face. If that were the case, then Naruto wouldn't need to know anything. He'd just be able to look at Sasuke and see what needed to be seen. And as far as he could judge, he'd been right.

Sasuke had seen what he needed to see while he was gone. Or, rather, he'd been shown. Kiba, and even Ren, had helped lead Sasuke to a conclusion that Naruto needed the raven to realize.

Naruto was unaware of the actual happenings during Sasuke's absence. He didn't know that Sasuke had been at Ren's burial site or that Kiba had experienced his final shift there, making him officially immortal. He didn't know that Sasuke had been overwhelmed by jealousy as he watched the truth about love unfold between Kiba and Gaara in that moment. He had no idea what had brought Sasuke to him, but he could sense the haste that Sasuke had come with. The fact that Sasuke had come at all, and with such a need for connection and understanding in his eyes, was more than enough to placate Naruto.

Sasuke now knew the secret that Naruto and Ren seemed to have kept. The problem that had trapped Naruto and Sasuke in constantly different corners of the same ring for so long was not something either of them were doing wrong. The problem was, actually, the very idea that a problem even existed. They were meant to be. Soul mates. They couldn't be anything but perfect for each other at any moment. All the dancing around each other and trying to discover the "right" time on each of their parts was just semantics. None of it really mattered.

Naruto had realized that more quickly, but Sasuke understood it now too. He simply had to have faith and let Naruto be Naruto. Just like he'd had to accept things with Ren as they were to find peace, he needed to give Naruto the same space because Naruto had already done that for him so long ago. Essentially, all Sasuke needed to do was let his own need for control go. He had to surrender to the unknown, and this was his act of surrender.

Much as his gut twisted with nerves, for a slew of reasons he didn't have time to individually recognize, he managed to lift his eyes to connect with Naruto's unwavering gaze once again. He wondered if this was how Naruto had felt beneath his gaze so many times. It was nerve-wrecking to be on the receiving end of such solid surety. It seemed like nothing but Naruto himself could move the blond.

Sasuke didn't have the words to express himself, and he wouldn't have been able find them even if his mind hadn't been so frazzled by Naruto's unintentional intensity, but Naruto wasn't interested in explanations. They'd formed a silent understanding, and Sasuke was sure of it once a quirk of Naruto's lips revealed a pleased smirk. That was all the acceptance that Sasuke needed to be able to breathe freely again.

There was truly nothing left to be said between the two so, in a moment that passed like lightning to Naruto, Sasuke flashed forward and impulsively kissed him.

Sasuke tentatively enfolded Naruto in a loose embrace. Naruto was not so much shocked as just unassuming, but the feeling passed quickly and he followed Sasuke's example by giving in to the desire stewing heavily in his gut too. The careful kiss was broken to be replaced with something far more satisfying. Lips re-discovered each other and moved with more purpose on each end. Naruto's tongue slid out to tease at Sasuke's bottom lip only a moment before Sasuke thought of the act himself. The kiss quickly progressed into something intense enough to rob them each of their breath and good sense. They initiated a mutual pause, simultaneously pulling away and silently agreeing to allow each other air through the lock of their eyes alone.

It was an incomparable feeling for Sasuke to have Naruto like this. Sure, they'd kissed before, but this was of an entirely different caliber. Sasuke grew more and more excited as he imagined the avenues down which they could finally travel together now that he'd thrown caution to the wind. It was getting increasingly impossible to think of anything but Naruto and Naruto alone in a moment like this.

Alas, the best moments always pass too fast.

An unexpected onslaught of bloodlust bowled into Sasuke, not at all like the tempered build he was used to. Naruto was shaken by the sudden intensity of it too, having become super sensitive to Sasuke's aura. The blond had to take a moment to just adjust to the feeling, but he was unable to recognize it for what it was at first. For Naruto, it simply felt as if Sasuke's desire had suddenly grown. The only indication that it was something deeper was the suddenly very red tint in Sasuke's eyes and the way his mouth began to slightly salivate. The addition of the vivid mental imagery indicating the very obvious desire for blood was what Naruto ultimately used to discern that Sasuke was experiencing bloodlust.

Just how much bloodlust Sasuke felt was still a mystery though. Naruto was unable recognize the separating lines between true desire and what was the additive of bloodlust. That was what made bloodlust so dangerous for inexperienced vampires. Rather than a new sensation, it simply enhanced whatever one already felt. It was always in disguise and it took a great deal of training for a vampire, let alone Naruto, to realize where it stopped and began. Though Naruto was unable to gauge how serious the bloodlust was, he was able to gauge how much it spiked Sasuke's sexual prowess. So instead of worrying, he just ran with it.

As Sasuke recalled when he'd actually been able to taste Naruto's blood, Naruto tilted his head back in a moment of bliss. With Naruto's neck exposed and his breath coming to him more shortly, Sasuke's mental imagery only grew more vivid. He licked his lips and pinned Naruto to the nearest wall without preamble, but Naruto felt so attuned to Sasuke that everything the raven did felt completely natural to him, as if he'd thought of it himself.

Sasuke clenched his fists shut tightly, metaphorically hanging on to his sense of control for dear life. It was quite a feat that his nails didn't carve troughs in the wall from the tension he held in his fingers.

In that same moment, Naruto's hands gripped either side of Sasuke's shirt, resting his head back as he stared at Sasuke through half-lidded eyes. He watched Sasuke quietly, focusing on the constant rise in desire between them and choosing to ignore its origin. He dismissed the true meaning of the burn in Sasuke's eyes and the longer Sasuke stared, the more Naruto's blood seemed to boil.

Naruto's hands traveled south just enough to slip up underneath Sasuke's shirt. His fingertips slowly flitted up each side of Sasuke's torso, causing Sasuke's eyes to snap from the tan neck they'd locked on up to engulfing eyes. A tiny smirk pulled at Naruto's lips as he slid his palms around to the small of Sasuke's back. He paused only momentarily before jerking Sasuke forward to eliminate the little space that had still remained between them, bringing a heat to their bodies that their shared consciousness was already in the midst of creating.

Sasuke buried his nose in the crook of Naruto's neck without pause and inhaled deeply. He knew it wasn't smart to indulge, even momentarily, but the impulse was strong and Naruto was beckoning. Two pairs of eyes rolled back simultaneously on a shared sigh, Naruto's breath coming out softly while Sasuke's sounded more like a growl.

The scent drove Sasuke positively wild, and the enthrallment it caused only grew more and more intense as the seconds seemed to drag by in slow motion. In fact, Sasuke could swear he felt every strand of hair on his body raise in excitement one by one. Unlike Naruto, though, he could not be so dismissive of the true danger in this exchange. While titillating, bloodlust was immensely hazardous and it operated on such a delicate balance. One moment, you could control it entirely; but in the very next moment, it could snap your mental stability like a twig.

Sasuke could not let himself get lost in desire. If he did, he wouldn't be able to tell his impulses apart. A bite would start to feel as innocent as a kiss, and Naruto would be in real danger if Sasuke forgot to respect the border lines. In that line of thinking, a kiss could progress far too easily into a feast. Or worse, a change.

But as Sasuke's parted lips brushed against the soft skin beneath which Naruto's pulse thrummed gently but quickly, the lines blurred. If he forgot the tang of venom, Sasuke remembered Naruto's blood to be the most exquisite of tastes.

Naruto wrinkled his nose, snorting softly in mild distaste. "Don't imagine that," he murmured in reference to Sasuke's memory of the venom.

"And what of the other taste in my imagination?" Sasuke murmured back.

Naruto didn't waste time thinking about it rationally. After all, if it bumped the sexual tension up this much, it must be a good thing.

"That can stay," was Naruto's easy reply.

Sasuke couldn't see, but he could fucking feel Naruto's lips pull into a smirk.

Naruto felt Sasuke's scoff cut through the lustrous haze with conviction. It was not nearly as fleeting as the rest of Sasuke's emotions in this state had been. No, that scoff stuck in Sasuke's chest and demanded attention, which made Naruto's brow quirk curiously.

"You're mad at me for getting turned on by you?" Naruto asked innocently.

Another sound of irritation, more like a snarl this time, slipped from Sasuke's lips. This was suddenly not quite as arousing for Naruto as it had been just moments ago, even as Sasuke's fingers trailed lightly down one of Naruto's arms, making every strand of hair in its path raise. When Sasuke's hand reached Naruto's palm, he snatched it in a rather aggressive and swift movement to pin it against the wall near Naruto's ear. Sasuke was definitely agitated and Naruto realized that they were no longer on the same page.

"You think it's a game," Sasuke muttered, repeating the aggressive act of dominance with Naruto's other hand. His lips seared a hot path up the length of Naruto's neck, a stark contrast to the disapproval in his tone. "You think it's sexy for me to imagine the divine taste of your blood."

There was no hint of a question in his tone. In fact, the atmosphere was more like a lecture than anything. Still, Sasuke demanded a response, another stark contrast presenting itself between the shudder-inducing heat of his breath and the sharpness to his voice. "Do you?"

Naruto released an unintentionally very shaky breath before truthfully admitting, "Yes."

Sasuke snarled and leaned back enough to glare into Naruto's eyes. "Fucking fool," he muttered. "Do you know that it's inside me to instinctively create a mood?" he asked, the lecturing tone returning. "—to dazzle you," he went on. "—and incapacitate you," he added. "—and kill you," he finished darkly. "Only the weak fall prey to such a pre-constructed mood."

"Well, you're killin' the mood pretty quickly," Naruto replied impulsively, slightly annoyed but mostly confused by the way he was being treated.

Sasuke snorted mockingly. "You really are a moron, aren't you? You're such easy prey, Naruto."

Naruto didn't get offended. Instead, his lips pulled into a cocky grin. "I'm not the one who'll lose all his wits when he bites me," he pointed out. "Don't think you're so invincible Sasuke. You're just as easy prey for me."

Sasuke couldn't refute that. As a bijuu, Naruto was among the only beings in the world who could control even the most unruly of vampires. Irritated by this notion, Sasuke snarled and pushed himself away from Naruto, turning his back.

"It's not a game," he snarled.

"I'm not the one making it one," Naruto said back quickly, letting his arms drop from the wall and rubbing his wrists in turn. "Why don't you make up your mind, Sasuke?" he suggested. "You can't keep ping-ponging between being turned on and trying to lecture me. Either you want me, or you don't."

Sasuke paused before saying softly, "And if what I want is your blood alone...?"

Naruto paused then too. While at first he honestly didn't understand the bloodlust, Naruto was not so blind to it now. He trusted Sasuke, so he made the subconscious decision to use the edge to his raven as a tool. There wasn't even a single moment of hesitation in his body making him question whether utilizing such a mood with Sasuke was safe. But Sasuke was going to great lengths to prove the point that he wasn't safe, and it was getting annoying.

"Yes, I think your bloodlust is sexy," Naruto said openly. "Has being sexy ever killed anyone? Do you really have to be so finicky?"

"Bloodlust has killed a lot of people, Naruto," Sasuke said tensely.

Naruto sighed grandly and rolled his eyes. "That's not what I meant at all."

"Then what did you mean?" Sasuke demanded sharply, whipping his head back to Naruto, his eyes daring. "You think it's sexy when I imagine sucking your blood because you only feel the desire, the potential euphoria," Sasuke accused, and not wrongfully at all. "You're putting it in the wrong context, Naruto! If you're gonna be connected to me, then experience my emotions properly, not as you want them to be!"

"How am I supposed to understand bloodlust?" Naruto argued automatically. If it was currently serious enough for Sasuke to get this worked up about it, then Naruto must have been vastly misjudging it. "Is it my fault I can't gauge it properly my very first try?"

"I'm telling you!" Sasuke snapped irritably. "I'm showing you! You're just ignoring it!"

"That's not true!" Naruto denied loudly. He intended to point out that Sasuke was the one confusing him, sending him mixed messages and then saying it was all just a ploy in actuality. He intended to point out that, in reality, Sasuke was the one playing games. But Sasuke didn't give him a chance to say anything more.

"It is!" Sasuke hollered so severely that Naruto felt his entire being shudder and shy away. Stunned into silence, all Naruto could do was listen, which was all that Sasuke wanted him to do in the moment. "You need it in plain terms?" Sasuke went on, managing to quell his anger into something less intense and dangerous. "No matter what I feel, the bloodlust will intensify it and morph it into some deranged facet of desire. Somehow, even this anger will round back to it in the end. It's not what you think it is, Naruto. You can't just control it."

Naruto thought his assumptions were logical. He figured they should embrace the lust for what good it caused, because the way the atmosphere between them heightened with bloodlust mixed in could most certainly be a good thing in a sexual situation like this. But, apparently, there lay Naruto's folly. It wasn't that he was wrong, exactly. It was just that he wasn't understanding Sasuke's perspective fully. That was all Sasuke was really yelling about, and Sasuke was right. Just because Naruto saw how easy it was between them didn't mean that Sasuke did. And as long as Sasuke was convinced that danger existed, then danger would exist.

Sasuke wanted Naruto to recognize that danger. He wanted Naruto to choose to be as careful as he felt he had to be, and that was really just him projecting his insecurities. But Naruto couldn't just stand by and let Sasuke hash this one out on his own. Sasuke was still holding himself back, but Naruto was done waiting. This time, he was going to pull Sasuke into the promised land with force if he had to. By god, Naruto was going to have his lover and Sasuke was not going to slow things down or fuck them up anymore.

"Am I supposed to question every ounce of tension between us?" Naruto asked. "Am I supposed to assume it's always bloodlust? Because I guess I can't tell what's what."

Naruto didn't understand was why someone would want to live in a constant state of fear like that. Yeah, sexuality between them was a delicate thing, and he could accept that. But he'd rather risk his life every time than play it safe and always feel unsatisfied. There was simply no way he could accept that the bloodlust was always too much. In that circumstance, it was never an appropriate time to embrace. Ever. Plus, Naruto didn't actually think the danger existed to begin with!

Sasuke rolled his eyes away from Naruto's face at the man's response.

Naruto would just never understand. He couldn't. He would always have some rebuttal prepared because he would never fully understand the true struggle of bloodlust from a vampire's perspective. Was this what they were doomed for? Was Naruto never going to be able to understand Sasuke because of this elementary difference between human and vampire? Sasuke had thought that their bond strengthening to this depth would change things. Yes, it'd made Naruto more empathetic, but it would never be a substitute for true understanding, not the way Sasuke had hoped it would.

Despite all the suffering they'd both done for this, Sasuke was finally beginning to realize the reality of being in love with a human. Perhaps this was why vampires only made mates of other vampires, because humans could only grasp so much.

"I don't want  _you_ , Naruto," Sasuke grumbled in both frustration and defeat. He turned away again and cursed the way even his misery led back to a lust for Naruto's blood. "I only want your blood."

"Okay. You've expressed this a thousand times over," Naruto replied. "It's getting repetitive. I get it, dracula. You wanna suck my blood."

"You're mocking me now," Sasuke scoffed.

"No," Naruto denied. "I'm just saying you sound like a broken record, but I can't be blamed if I can't tell your bloodlust apart yet."

"You can tell," Sasuke insisted.

Naruto was about to shift the course of the conversation. He was going to admit to Sasuke that, yes, he could tell and that he actually just trusted Sasuke enough to not care, and he was going to demand that Sasuke trust himself that much too. But Sasuke made a comment that set Naruto off on a tangent.

"You just aren't trying hard enough," Sasuke grumbled.

Naruto decided to then address what he considered to be the elephant in the room. "Fuck you," he said surprisingly calmly for all the venom compacted in his heart. "You wanna pin all the blame on—"

Sasuke didn't wait for any more to come out. He fed off of Naruto's compressed anger and turned away, cutting Naruto off. "Forget it," he said flatly, prompting his departure.

"Always trying to fucking disappear!" Naruto snapped as he snatched Sasuke by the arm and yanked the man back around.

Shocked that Naruto had even been able to stop him at that speed, Sasuke could only look to the tight grip Naruto had on his forearm with surprise.

"That pisses me off to no degree Sasuke," Naruto added in irritation.

Sasuke's eyes flicked up and, for a moment, they just stared at each other. Then, Naruto huffed out a tense breath. "You're missing something huge here, Sasuke," he said more softly. "You've spent all this time thinking I was the one who needed to progress. You've been pinning the fact that we haven't reunited yet on me."

Sasuke said nothing so Naruto went on, pulling the other closer. Sasuke only allowed himself to be manipulated so far before he simply refused to move anymore, but Naruto took what he got.

"I understand, Sasuke," Naruto assured. "You think I'm not listening to you, and it doesn't feel fair."

"It's not a matter of what's fair, Naruto," Sasuke replied. "It's a matter of safety, of danger."

"That's not the problem here," Naruto argued. "In my opinion, there is no danger. I'm not afraid of you, and I'm not afraid of using your bloodlust for something good either. If there's danger, you're the one perpetuating it. If you just gave in a little, it'd be a different story." Naruto could see Sasuke's irritation rising and he chose to leave that topic where it lay. He didn't really need to lecture Sasuke about his own insecurities so bluntly, not with the mood already being so delicate. Instead, he quickly added, "But that's not the point. The point is that I'll never be 'safe' with you at this rate Sasuke, because something huge is missing."

Sasuke could feel it too. Something was, indeed, lacking between them. And it put him on edge. Whatever was missing between them was causing them to misunderstand each other too easily. It was keeping not only Naruto from understanding Sasuke in the right context, but it kept Sasuke from understanding Naruto properly too. For how deeply ingrained into each other's heads that they'd become, there was an awful lot of miscommunication floating around. But what could make them understand each other's perspectives in the right context?

They couldn't just poke around until they found what they were looking for. For one, neither of them even knew what they were looking for. And two, they both realized that this whole connection was not so easily exploited. They each still had up subconscious blocks to protect themselves, and Naruto got the feeling that Sasuke was sheltering some deeply-rooted secrets about the one thing they'd never truly spoken about yet: Ren. Of course, as expected, Sasuke's conscious mind was not dawdling on such a subject and Naruto was distracted by some fleeting thoughts of Sasuke's that made him growl in irritation.

"There you go again, thinking that I'm the one with the problem." Naruto narrowed his eyes at Sasuke. "You're offending me, asshole. Neither of us are defective, okay? What's missing here is trust."

Sasuke looked away, probably because he knew exactly where this was leading. Naruto stepped closer as his attitude grew more soft and serious at the same time, but Sasuke shuffled back to recreate the distance that Naruto was trying to eliminate.

"Stop," Sasuke growled, but Naruto understood it to be surface tension at best. Even the slight twitch of Sasuke's upper lip that hinted at a snarl was noncommittal. Inside, Sasuke's dominant emotion was uncertainty, and Naruto was determined to gently iron out whatever hidden insecurities still kept him at arm's length from Sasuke.

"What for?" Naruto questioned quietly. He waited for the attention of Sasuke's eyes before softly asking, "Because you're scared?"

"Of biting you, yes," Sasuke confirmed.

"You're not scared of that," Naruto disagreed. "You know you have the will power. You know you have the control, even if you don't think I have the sense to address your bloodlust. What you're scared of is true transparency," he accused. "You're scared to be honest with me, so you hide behind your identity as a vampire. I think we both know you would never touch a hair on my body the wrong way, Sasuke, so don't lie. Just be real with me."

Sasuke couldn't be shocked by Naruto's candor. He guessed where Naruto was going before the blond truly got there. At this point, he was just trying to delay the inevitable. Not quite bold enough to hold Naruto's gaze in this moment, Sasuke glanced away and stared off into space. He mulled Naruto's words over in his head, digesting them and slowly accepting them for their truth.

When Naruto shuffled closer again, Sasuke didn't flinch or try to interfere. Naruto took that as a green light for physical contact too, so he reached up and gently cupped Sasuke's cheek. After a moment, Sasuke lifted his hand to touch Naruto's forearm. He ran his fingers up Naruto's arm in a surprisingly gentle manner, passed over Naruto's wrist to brush his fingertips, and then backtracked to loosely hold Naruto's wrist again, ready to end the contact if need be.

"Sasuke..." Naruto began, gently urging Sasuke's face to angle toward his. The raven allowed himself to be manipulated. "—we're stuck at a stalemate," Naruto went on softly. "You keep seeing this version of the situation in your head, but I see something else entirely. What we need isn't for me to be the best bijuu I can or for you to go for the most controlled vampire award. You're more than enough as you are. We are. The thing blocking us up is really just trust." Once Sasuke nodded in acknowledgement, Naruto added in a murmur, "Trust me. Let me in. Let me see."

Sasuke searched Naruto's eyes for reassurance, trying to find and borrow some courage and strength. Lost in his own aversion to the solution to their problem, Sasuke was caught entirely off guard when Naruto suggested, "Bite me." He hunted in Naruto's eyes for answers to questions he didn't need to verbally ask, and he could feel Naruto actively imploring back, peeking into every corner of his aura for clarity. Their eyes stayed locked and the word "no" sat on the tip of each of their tongues, but it wouldn't slip out. For a moment, they both contemplated their sanity.

Naruto got closer yet and leaned forward to nestle into Sasuke's neck, which he kissed softly in a chaste act of comfort more than anything. While Naruto was reminded of why this was necessary, Sasuke was reminded of why it was such a bad idea.

"Bite me," Naruto repeated, the tone soft but full of the most convincing conviction.

Sasuke questioned if he could trust Naruto with his free will. What would Naruto have him do once the exchange was made? Then again, Sasuke didn't really believe Naruto would ever mistreat him at all.

Naruto was convinced that this would bring them closer, and Sasuke couldn't disagree. In a way, it made perfect sense. This would break down the barriers and give them the access to each other that they might not be strong or aware enough to consciously allow. Still, there was a hesitation that Sasuke could not shrug off.

The surety surging from Naruto to Sasuke made no sense to Sasuke at all. Because how could Naruto be so sure that things would still be perfect between them once everything to know was truly out in the open? And yet, that surety somehow seemed to belong at the same time. Somehow, Naruto was positive that this was what needed to happen, that this was the only way they were going to get what they wanted and needed from each other.

Sasuke finally nodded his head in an act of trust. "Okay," he whispered, pulling Naruto's wrist away from his face and pressing the palm of Naruto's hand to his lips. He kissed the skin reverently and closed his eyes, willing himself to trust Naruto as much as he deeply wanted to.

But the seconds dragged on, and they continued to drag on until...

"Sasuke," Naruto whispered against Sasuke's ear, a beckoning call to pull Sasuke from the giant wave of uncertainty that had overtaken him. "Give in," Naruto murmured, almost a plea. "S'okay."

Sasuke recognized that the race of his heart was not borne of excitement, but nerves. Naruto felt it too, that he was on the cusp of unveiling the last puzzle piece to true unity. Sasuke just needed to commit; but even as the bloodlust took on a whole other level of intensity, Sasuke continued to pause. And the reason for his hesitation made itself very known, filling Sasuke with a fragmented memory that was causing him more pain than he was willing to let on. Naruto could feel this pain too though, and it caused his brows to scrunch together in slight discomfort.

"Sasuke, just bite me," Naruto insisted.

Sasuke's fangs were bared, his grip tight, his eyes as red as blood... but he couldn't open his mouth. He couldn't make the move. He didn't like what this moment was doing to him, what it was making him recall. Naruto could catch only broken glimpses of Sasuke's struggle, still impeded by that last wall between them, but the volatile way Sasuke's emotions thrashed took its toll nonetheless. Sasuke knew that his internal suffering was hurting Naruto too, but this wasn't something he could just express so freely. In fact, it was such a raw part of him that his subconscious mind tried to bury it away from even his own self.

Naruto could sense that Sasuke's conviction was completely deflating. Even bloodlust, the very bloodlust Sasuke had so often sworn would be his undoing, wasn't enough to throw Sasuke over the edge.

Each second became steadily more overwhelming than the last until Naruto started shaking his head to try to dispel the ever-intensifying buzz. "Sasuke, you're torturing me," he said agitatedly, pulling away and rubbing his face with his hands. "You have to bite me or I'll go insane," he complained.

Naruto didn't want to imagine that Sasuke lived every day with this struggle deep inside of him when he himself could hardly manage it for a few minutes at most. He felt like he was being torn apart inside, and he knew he wasn't even receiving the half of it yet. Sasuke's emotions changed from one extreme to the other, the bloodlust only intensifying things when Naruto wanted them to settle. It was a mess! How did Sasuke manage this with such a straight face? Here Naruto was, unable to stop the tears from prickling at his eyes, and Sasuke's face probably looked completely unmoved.

But of course, Sasuke was about as steady on his feet as he'd been when he'd first arrived. The stoic front that was in itself his reputation was nowhere to be found. His raw, natural self had been pulled to the surface. His true face was stuck in a grimace as he watched Naruto struggle to not fall apart at the scenes. It truly must have been torture to experience even a fraction of Sasuke's pain and not understand it.

And Naruto wouldn't get less sensitive to him as time went on. He would forever be a victim of this torture if Sasuke didn't let him in, and Sasuke knew he could share that vulnerable space with Naruto. In fact, Naruto was probably one of the few people who could step into Sasuke's chaos and create peace. Now Naruto was offering his hand to create peace in Sasuke's core, in his heart.

It was no longer about what Sasuke did or did not deserve. Naruto had persuaded him away from that complex just minutes ago. It was now about what he wanted. He knew that he loved Naruto. But did he want to be loved by Naruto?

In that moment, Sasuke's priorities fell in line. It would be hell for him, he decided, to have to go through with this, but it was what needed to be done. He now fully understood why it was he who'd needed to come to Naruto and not the other way around. Because he was the one lacking courage. He was the one fighting the peace.

Gently, Sasuke placed his hand on Naruto's waist and re-positioned them so that he could stand behind Naruto, nuzzling into the crook of the man's neck. He carefully tightened his arm around Naruto's waist, urging the other to stand more upright as he sank his fangs into Naruto's skin.

Sasuke paused to swallow his first mouthful and Naruto tensed in anticipation, their minds beginning to meld together in a slow escalation. Naruto could tell right away that Sasuke was not going to be like other vampires for him. He was used to instantaneous results, but the connection to Sasuke had to taper gradually. The way Sasuke opened up to him like a book was magical, but Naruto knew that there would be no commanding him around like a puppy dog.

His influence was not lost though. While he knew he couldn't command Sasuke like other vampires, he was very capable of influencing the raven's emotions. Sasuke was openly receptive to his influence that way at least, though Naruto knew he would need to do some convincing to get Sasuke to be so open with other aspects of his being too. Nonetheless, he was eventually able to peek into Sasuke's deepest crevices. With some gentle prodding, Sasuke's walls began to become as transparent as glass. Naruto couldn't exactly touch or manipulate what he discovered, but he could finally witness it freely.

The two had, perhaps, never been more connected to another being in their lives than in that moment, but they were still so far apart. As Naruto was exposed to the true expanse of Sasuke's mind, he realized how little he actually knew about the man he was with. If what slowly filed into his mind's eye was the full, unhindered contents of Sasuke's heart, then Naruto had never really known the man behind him at all. For someone who had just become an irrevocable part of his soul, Sasuke suddenly felt as if he were thousands of miles away from Naruto.

The connection quickly overwhelmed Sasuke, sharpening his senses to an almost unbearable degree. The situation turned sickening as things that Sasuke was so used to suppressing rushed to the surface for Naruto's perusing. Part of Sasuke wanted to lock it all back away, but there was no stuffing these secrets back down, not with Naruto's gentle influence encouraging him to remain open. Unable to neither hide nor handle what bubbled up from his depths, Sasuke's lips began to quiver against Naruto's skin. Naruto, however, was so lost in what he was finally given the chance to see that he totally missed the soft sound of the huffs accompanying Sasuke's tears.

A woman's voice held Naruto's attention. No, not a woman. A girl. The voice was soft, its quality innocent and potentially very lilting, but a slight tightness in her throat and the edge of fear brought tension to her tone. Though scared, her voice was so quiet that it, somehow, became deafening. Next to manifest were her features—small lips, the gentle slope of a nose, smooth and flawless skin.

Naruto sucked in a sharp breath, his gut jumping as he felt the sensation of fingers against his elbow. He easily located both of Sasuke's hands elsewhere on his body and decided that the hand on his elbow wasn't real. The imaginary fingers squeezed just tightly enough to be alarming but still with such a careful grip. The contact of skin was so gentle that it turned every one of Naruto's bones to mush.

Breath was practically impossible to draw by now. The air felt so heavy and thick with a scent he did not want to be smelling that he thought he might choke on it and die. Familiar eyes that should have been raging and parroting the depth of her fear stared so mildly up at him that the lack of intensity actually seemed to sear holes right through his core.

An anguished sound passed his lips and Naruto clutched his chest as the emotion became too raw for him to handle. The scene became too tumultuous the stream smoothly and the images cut in and out of a suddenly very gory scene, at which point he decided that he needed it all to stop. He wanted to shut it down like flipping a switch, but the offset was proving to be painfully gradual. Naruto wasn't used to his partners needing persuading. Sasuke would obviously adhere to Naruto's will, but it had to be a slow and careful process.

Not only was Naruto simply not capable of just shutting Sasuke off, but he didn't think it would ever be right to do such a thing anyway. To do so would be an insult to Sasuke. It would be like defying him of his humanity. This was Sasuke's pain, and this was what kept Sasuke human. Naruto had asked to be here in Sasuke's head. He had wished to uncover any lost information so that he could discover the proper context to understand Sasuke, and this was it. This was exactly what Naruto had asked for, but he hadn't expected to crumple so quickly beneath its weight, and he hadn't expected Sasuke to fall to shambles too.

Though he managed to extinguish the hot flame of turbulence quite a bit, by picturing Sasuke's emotions as a sea and willing the water to calm, Naruto was unable to soothe Sasuke enough to rid the man of his tears entirely. Sasuke continued to react with his whole being—body trembling from head to toe and breath coming in short, pained gasps—but at least he wasn't sobbing uncontrollably.

Unable to function on even that improved level of emotion, Naruto found a way to reduce the depth of their connection and separate himself from Sasuke enough to peel himself away from the torn up shape he knew Sasuke was still in. He understood that reaction though.

He'd opened up a severe wound, and he couldn't expect Sasuke to recover with as much ease as he himself had managed to. When it became too much, Naruto was able to devise a way to escape Sasuke's crippling emotions, but Sasuke had to live with it no matter what. There was no escaping for him, and Naruto began to feel guilty about bringing up such deep demons in the first place as he witnessed Sasuke suffer in such plain view.

Deeply understanding the origin of Sasuke's tears and why they could not be suppressed so easily, all Naruto could do was continue to try gently easing the uproar of Sasuke's mind into a quiet din that they could brave together. He cooed Sasuke with both his voice and touch until their bodies began to synchronize. Sasuke's breath started to settle and match Naruto's and their chests struck up a shared rhythm of rising and falling as one.

Eventually, Sasuke was relaxed enough that his lips pressed against Naruto's skin again in their own time. He didn't bite into it or even tend to the small wound he'd already made. He just kissed it tenderly, apologetically. Naruto moved Sasuke's hand, which he'd taken in his own long ago, from atop his heart and pressed it against his lips in reverence, his own apology. He replaced their hands on his chest, a lump forming in his throat.

"I never understood this," Naruto murmured. A pause. "I never understood  _her_."

Sasuke's eyes closed and, like a breath he never intended to breathe, he whispered, "I killed her." His arms tightened around Naruto, pulling the blond into something more like a hug than the loose embrace they'd been sharing.

Naruto, of course, already knew this truth. He'd just uncovered it, just seen the bloody details in his head, but hearing it spoken aloud like that made him want to flinch and shy away nonetheless. Naruto wouldn't let the discomfort linger though, lest Sasuke pick it up and they crescendo right back into that tempestuous place of emotion again. Instead, he took a deep breath and just let it go. He let it seep away from his bones, leaving nothing but faith and love for Sasuke in its place. It was exceedingly easy for him to forgive Sasuke now that he knew what had been truly plaguing the man all this time, but that was not what Sasuke had ever been looking for. No, Sasuke was in need of something else, a forgiveness that had to come from within.

"I've... never said that out loud before," Sasuke added after a long moment's pause.

"I know," Naruto whispered, stroking Sasuke's arm in an attempt at comfort.

"You know..." Sasuke's tiny and trembling voice trailed off.

With Naruto there to temper him, he didn't feel like he'd spiral out of control anymore, but he also didn't feel like there was any sense in dragging it out either. The wound was raw, and he wasn't even sure he had anything he could even say on the subject. His inner monologue was a different story though, and it was that which lead Naruto to speak up again.

"Lemme see your face."

There was a pause, and then Sasuke shifted so that he was no longer hindering Naruto's freedom to move. Naruto glanced back and focused on Sasuke, seeing moments before the man moved where he'd end up. A second before Sasuke could open his mouth, Naruto was walking toward his bedroom.

Sasuke paused, somewhat surprised that Naruto had read him so seamlessly, but he followed Naruto as the blond disappeared into his room. Sasuke entered as Naruto was sitting down on the bed. He looked up and smiled softly, patting the bedding beside him.

"Lay down. Relax."

Sasuke was wary, but he decided to begin embracing this trust between them and did as told. He walked up to the bed, turned, and fell flat on his back. Naruto leaned over Sasuke once the man had stopped bouncing, bracing his weight on one hand by Sasuke's head. He looked into Sasuke's eyes, but Sasuke just looked through him. Naruto witnessed without interrupting as Sasuke's thoughts slowly circled and his emotions built until his throat was choked tight and a tear struggled to break free. He re-positioned his weight to shift from his hand to that same arm's elbow instead, bringing his face closer to Sasuke's. He allowed Sasuke a moment to focus on his eyes, using his free hand to comb a hand through Sasuke's hair, before speaking.

"This is easy," Naruto said softly. "I know you're still reluctant," he added, "so I won't push you. We'll just chill out until you're comfortable with your true self again."

"My true self..." Sasuke repeated. "It feels like trash."

Naruto shook his head, smiling surely. "You're not trash."

"I'm not..." It was neither a statement nor a question, but stuck somewhere between.

"You're not," Naruto assured. He kissed Sasuke's cheek. "—no more than me," he added.

"You're not trash!" Sasuke exclaimed quietly but quickly. His arm pulled more tightly around Naruto's waist.

Naruto pulled back enough for his eyes to flicker back to Sasuke's, which were already looking his way.

"No, not with you," Naruto agreed, smiling.

Something unspoken passed between them and Sasuke nodded. "Not with you," he repeated.

_To be continued..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgive the endless wait. There are 2 chapters left, and each of them contain pretty explicit content.


	25. Peace & Harmony

"Naruto," Sasuke whispered.

Silence.

"Naruto… you awake?"

"Mm," Naruto eventually grunted softly, sleepily lifting his hand to card through Sasuke's hair.

"...nothing," Sasuke murmured.

"Mmkay," Naruto yawned. As he let his voice just slip away into the night with his consciousness, his hand slowly stopped moving.

Almost imperceptibly, and once he thought Naruto might have been sleeping, Sasuke mumbled, "Mine," and squeezed gently.

Naruto suddenly shifted, turning his face toward Sasuke. Eyes still closed and lips half pulled into a smile, he whispered, "I know."

Sasuke was slightly embarrassed to be overheard, but mostly he was stricken with adoration. Sasuke could finally let go in another's company again. There was no reason to break his back trying to constantly temper himself, not anymore. He’d been looking at Naruto with the wrong perspective. Naruto was not just some human who had been causing him all this undue pain. Naruto was his one and only, his mate.

Vampires were commonly known to attach themselves exclusively to other vampires, but it wasn't unheard of for things to end up happening in other ways too. It was, admittedly, extremely taboo for a vampire to consider a bijuu as their mate, but that didn't really matter. What mattered was not Naruto's label or the words that the rest of the world would use to try and describe him. What mattered was what he'd done, and only someone as special as a mate could do those things for Sasuke.

The day he'd killed Ren was the day Sasuke had separated from his humanity completely, and he supposed that such a point came for every vampire. All were tested, torn from whatever expectations they’d placed on their own lives and reminded of what kind of life they were cursed to live. And Sasuke supposed that there was a Naruto out there for each and every one of them, someone to help them realize that fear is only ever within one’s self.

Because Sasuke was broken, because he'd lost his ability to meld the two parts of himself as one, he'd never been able to live outside of his own fear. But with Naruto, Sasuke was not broken. He was neither this nor that. He simply was, and so there was no separation, no battle to be waged, no war to be lost. Naruto was the most freeing thing Sasuke had ever experienced. By giving himself over entirely, he'd finally learned how be the master of his own self again. He was not broken. No, not at all. In fact, he'd never been so full and intact in all his life.

This was what Naruto had brought Sasuke to realize just a couple of weeks prior. They wasted no time in indulging in each other, but it became clear that, for both their sakes, they needed to take things slowly. For one, Naruto's senses sharpened too much to be pleasant when they became intimate. Sasuke was used to the various ways his senses could affect him. He was used to tempering them without having to pay attention to the details. He’d been doing it for almost his entire life. Naruto, however, was still working on mastering the gradual build so that he could do more than simply kiss Sasuke.

Not only that, but Naruto wasn't used to the surplus of energy Sasuke filled him with. As opposed to having to worry about his lovelust impairing his judgement, Naruto found that he had to tell Sasuke to back off sometimes because he was starting to lose sense of himself entirely. This feeling of inebriation from the energy that passed between them was what threw his senses over the edge of control. It was amusing for Sasuke to watch Naruto practically be reduced to nothing but whimpers in those times, but it also wasn't funny at all because Sasuke knew that it wasn't a pleasant feeling to be so sensitive. A touch could feel like a slap. A whisper could sound like a scream. It was difficult to handle, so Sasuke tried to be as accommodating as possible.

As for Sasuke, well, he was acclimating too. His bloodlust didn't just disappear. He had begun to trust Naruto and practice using it as a positive tool, but that was extremely slow going. Of course, Naruto was as understanding as Sasuke managed to be with him.

A combination of the two struggles was what caused them to sit so idly by now. They lay on Sasuke's bed, completely clothed and just enjoying each other's company. They mutually agreed in silence that it was good to just relax. Being too aware of the tension between them that came with intimacy could get monotonous. Of course, there was never a way to completely erase the sexual tension. After all, how could they help themselves when their partner was so sexy?

As Naruto cracked his eyes and smiled at Sasuke lovingly in the wake of Sasuke's quiet declaration, Sasuke decided that there had never been a more appropriate moment in his life to kiss someone. Naruto was more than glad to accept the kiss, and he wasn't complaining about the shift he felt in Sasuke's mood either.

There was something different about this exchange though. There was a lack of inhibition, arising a passion in the way Sasuke touched him with dwindling restraint.

When Naruto moved his hand into Sasuke's black hair and tugged, Sasuke found and embraced his conviction. And Naruto found himself suddenly on his back with the offending hand pinned to the bed. Sasuke, now straddling one of his legs, smirked down at him as he grabbed Naruto's free hand and lifted it to his lips. Playfully, Sasuke scraped his teeth across Naruto's thumb and smoothed it over with a lick before kissing the skin and pinning it above Naruto's head as well. Naruto felt an excitement roil deep inside as Sasuke leaned down, but he stopped just short of Naruto's mouth.

"Let me bite you," Sasuke whispered, his voice unimaginably sexy. And his eyes— Oh, his eyes. They were not the deep, fathomless depths that Naruto had grown so used to. No, there was a limit to them, an end. There was a boundary to which Naruto could travel and touch, and he was free to experience everything in between its walls. He briefly imagined going through with this experience while Sasuke was so open. Just the idea of being able to witness every ounce of Sasuke’s pleasure being expressed so freely was deeply arousing all on its own.

"Do you even need to ask?" was Naruto's easy reply.

Sasuke closed the small distance between them and kissed Naruto softly. He graduated to nipping lightly at Naruto's bottom lip between kisses before eventually just biting into the enticing flesh between his lips. The bite was shallow, more akin to a prick than anything, but Naruto still winced softly and Sasuke watched intently as his brows knit in pain. Or was that pleasure?

Sasuke pulled back enough to watch the blood trickle out in small droplets, some dripping into Naruto's mouth and others falling to slip down his chin. Sasuke kissed the first drip to venture down Naruto's chin and then licked across the blond’s lip. His tongue dipped in to taste what had pooled against Naruto's teeth, but he didn't linger there. He met Naruto's eyes and watched the blond brow line smooth out again as he sucked the lip between his own and took to nursing the tiny wounds of their treasure. His drawls were short and careful and he paused a moment after each one to simply savor the taste before sucking again. The pauses were just short enough for Naruto to avoid the ache that always followed a bite, and for that Naruto was grateful.

Pleasure built slowly as the interim between drawls steadily shortened and was aided by the gentle roll of Sasuke's hips. As he sat straddling one of Naruto's thighs, Sasuke rested more and more weight on the hips below him and created a slow build of friction between their groins. Imagining how other parts of his body might feel with this kind of attention paid to them certainly boosted Naruto's arousal too. When he would try to aid the process and grind himself up into Sasuke with purpose, though, Sasuke would lift his hips just barely out of reach so that all Naruto got was the slightest of touches. This would have Naruto sighing in frustration, but Sasuke was rather enjoying this pace and he was adamant about retaining enough control for the both of them. All Naruto could do was sigh in frustration and try again, only to fail once more.

Eventually deciding he would oblige Naruto at least a little bit, Sasuke ground down more firmly against the other, who released a whimper of pleasure. Sasuke groaned softly in return, finding the sound of Naruto's voice absolutely intoxicating. As he watched Naruto crumble into pieces, there came a point when Sasuke decided that neither of them could handle this teasing much longer. He pulled away from Naruto, kissing the lip one last time.

"Where to now?"

He released Naruto's wrist to, instead, explore what lay beneath the man's shirt. Just as his palms brushed over Naruto's nipples and it became evident that Naruto's shirt was about to become a thing of the past, Naruto put both of his hands on Sasuke's chest in an obvious demand of pause. Sasuke didn't heed this gesture though. He simply removed Naruto's shirt with such speed that Naruto could only stare dumbly as it dangled from Sasuke's hand. Sasuke smirked, amused by Naruto's reaction and ignoring the slight spark of indignation in Naruto's aura. Instead, he tossed the shirt away and turned his attention to Naruto's belt. Though Sasuke's eyes stayed trained on Naruto's face, Naruto looked down at Sasuke's hands and processed the action.

"Um, Sasuke, wait," he said, stilling Sasuke's movement by grabbing his hands just as Sasuke was about to graduate to the button of Naruto's pants. But, again, Naruto was ignored and he found himself staring just as dumbly at his pants as he'd just been staring at his shirt. This time, the indignation ignited more quickly and his brows furled with impatience.

"Sasuke—"

"Shhh," Sasuke interjected, pressing his finger against Naruto's lips. He leaned down slightly and Naruto's hands lifted to try stopping him by the chest, but they were quickly pinned up by his head in a familiar way.

Naruto growled in annoyance. "Let go," he demanded quietly.

Sasuke didn’t seem to hear him though. His tongue was running along the length of his bottom lip as he planned out the most enticing angle of attack.

"Let go, I said," Naruto demanded more loudly, a flourish of irritation that Sasuke couldn't ignore flaring in his eyes.

Sasuke's eyes softened and his fangs, having slipped out in his anticipation, retracted immediately. He gazed blankly at Naruto for a moment, rooting through the man's aura. He discovered what lay just beneath the thin veil of pleasure and desire—fear, uncertainty, and even a bit of doubt. Naruto wasn't liking the way Sasuke demanded control or the way he got lost in the moment and ignored Naruto's plights. If Sasuke were just a man, it would be different. Naruto wouldn't be afraid of a just any human. But because Sasuke had the power to kill him, Naruto couldn't help but feel fear at a basic level when Sasuke didn't immediately concede.

What, then? Was Sasuke supposed to vigilantly watch his every action with Naruto, like the other vampires Naruto had, essentially, enslaved? But this didn't work that way. Naruto chose to not manipulate Sasuke's will. Or maybe he couldn't... but that was beyond the point. There was simply no reason for him to get upset that Sasuke wasn't bending to his commands instantly.

This lead Sasuke to the recognition of how fully their roles had switched. Not too long ago, Naruto was the one ignoring Sasuke and charging onward. Now Sasuke was the one misusing their connection, and that scared Naruto the same way it had scared Sasuke, because Sasuke was dangerous. The moment it took for Sasuke to put all of this together was a moment too long for Naruto's patience.

"Let me go!" Naruto snapped.

Sasuke recoiled quickly. An apologetic look slipped onto his face, intertwined with a pain that came with realizing how difficult this still was, even as they practically read each other's minds. Sasuke's eyes fell away and his posture slumped in defeat, but Naruto immediately moved to cup his cheeks and lock their eyes again.

"Don't worry," Naruto reassured, every sharp edge to him smoothing on contact.

He quickly embraced a playful mood and flipped their positions in what he thought to be a skillful move. Compared to Sasuke's unmatchable reflexes, however, it was meek. Sasuke just stared up into Naruto's face, his desire to dominate and devour pitted against his wishes to caress and love gently. But in order for this to work, he'd have to give Naruto some leeway to be a man too. In order to eliminate some of that insecurity and fear, Sasuke had to give himself up a little as well. How could Sasuke expect Naruto to trust him to have free reign if Sasuke couldn't trust Naruto too? This was what they'd been working on. Trust.

There was the solution staring Sasuke in the eyes, but could Sasuke see it through? It was so very hard to let another being control him. Sasuke tried to remind himself that he'd already given up control when he'd tasted Naruto's blood for the very first time so many months ago as he saved Naruto from the wounds Sai had inflicted. Naruto could already do with him as he pleased, even before this reunion, so Sasuke wasn't really giving anything up at all. He was just resigning to a fate he'd sealed a long time ago. So, then, why was it still so hard to give Naruto the control the blond already possessed?

Naruto's eyes were so engulfing that, as he smiled softly and experienced the exhilaration of the chance to simply admire his lover, Sasuke couldn't help but get lost in the moment and abandon the doubt in his head.

Naruto nudged Sasuke's chin with his nose and Sasuke pulled his head back, albeit reluctantly, to allow Naruto full access to his neck. His heart picked up pace immediately. Even though Naruto wasn't a vampire and there was no chance of him ripping out Sasuke's throat with his teeth, Sasuke still got that defensive feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Unlike Sasuke, Naruto didn't ignore Sasuke's warning signs. He kissed gently along Sasuke's neck, showing Sasuke that he would be careful and proceed as slowly as Sasuke saw fit. He continued this reassuring treatment as one of his hands slowly traveled to Sasuke's hip. He paused there and gave Sasuke a moment to acclimate, which Sasuke used to assure himself of where every inch of Naruto's body was in relation to his own.

Naruto's hand made its way beneath Sasuke's shirt and gently traced up his torso. His fingers stopped just short of Sasuke's pec at the same time that his lips brushed Sasuke's ear. "Can this be gone?" he asked.

Sasuke nodded and turned his head to watch as Naruto relieved him of his top. Naruto's eyes roved Sasuke's torso, appreciating the way the light dipped into its crevices and illuminated the toned muscles. He smiled as his eyes landed on Sasuke's pants. He knew Sasuke would know exactly what he was thinking, and it took but a glance up to see the smirk on Sasuke's face for him to proceed. With much less caution now that Sasuke could see for himself what Naruto was doing, Naruto quickly unfastened Sasuke's pants. He slowed to carefully pull Sasuke's boxers and pants down enough to expose the tip of his semi-hard length. He bit his lip and watched the appendage twitch slightly, growing before his very eyes.

After exposing the rest of Sasuke, Naruto trailed one finger up the underside of Sasuke's shaft along the vein. He employed another as he met the crown and smeared a small leak of precum around Sasuke's head. Sasuke watched with half-lidded eyes, understanding that the thrum in his chest was no longer due to a natural defensiveness. The rate of his heart was owed solely to the scene of Naruto on his lap touching him so lewdly. His lips parted as his eyes flicked to the prominent outline of Naruto's length against his boxer briefs. Naruto was much harder than Sasuke, but Sasuke had spent his time teasing the man relentlessly, so that was to be expected.

When Naruto's eyes shot up to Sasuke's face again, Sasuke glanced up to meet them. They shared a moment before Naruto loosely grabbed Sasuke's length and massaged the head in circles with his thumb. Sasuke's hands traveled up Naruto's thighs to cup the man's sides before he tugged Naruto forward. Naruto allowed himself to be manipulated and leaned down. He was surprised to see Sasuke's face turn away, though, as the man exposed his throat again. Once he got over the primal fear, Sasuke realized that he rather liked his neck being tended to. He especially loved the feel of Naruto's hot breath against his pulse on its way to tickle his ear. Naruto simply smiled and set out to give his partner what he so obviously loved.

Sasuke's fingers nestled themselves just under the hem of Naruto's boxers as Naruto rolled his tongue along a sensitive patch of skin just beneath Sasuke's ear. As Naruto suckled and kissed Sasuke's neck, he gripped Sasuke more firmly and moved his thumb to, instead, rub back and forth over Sasuke's slit. Sasuke's breath hitched at the new, more direct sensation and Naruto was inspired to express his rising arousal. Feeling slightly like an animal himself, he nipped Sasuke's neck. Sasuke tensed and grimaced in discomfort, but Naruto interpreted the reaction wrongly. Thinking he was giving Sasuke what the raven wanted, Naruto bit the patch of skin much more firmly.

Sasuke's eyes shot open and his fangs bared themselves as he hissed vehemently into Naruto's ear. He shoved Naruto off to the side and onto his back. He tried to maneuver himself quickly but fumbled with the clothing still around his ankles inhibiting his ability to move freely at this speed. He angrily ripped off the pants and boxers and threw them carelessly away.\

At the speed Sasuke was moving, fueled by the dismay he felt, Naruto missed the embarrassing display. Instead, he experienced only a split moment of freedom before Sasuke was atop him again, magically relieved of his clothes and pinning him to the bed with great force. The grip in Sasuke's hands, the color of his eyes, and the way his lips curled to reveal a snarl were enough for Naruto to get the point, but the wave of emotion that coursed through him really drove it home. Naruto grimaced in the face of Sasuke's dismay, even if the hissing had already stopped, and felt regretful.

With Naruto's help, Sasuke quelled his emotional reaction and abandoned his snarl. "Don't do that," he said quietly, partly reprimanding but mostly disturbed.

His heart was racing at a sickening pace as the urge to attack Naruto waned too slowly for his comfort. This wasn't supposed to be like this. It was supposed to be something else entirely. Sasuke tried to remind himself that this was just a trial run. They were still figuring it out. But that didn't eradicate the fantasy he'd had in his head, and it certainly didn't make it easier to accept that such a fantasy was, perhaps, impossible. It might take them years to work out their intimacy. Was Sasuke okay with that, years of trying to find balance, when he needed Naruto so fully right here and now? It seemed like getting over one hurdle just brought them to another. How many would there be? Every interruption grew more and more maddening, which, in the end, brought him to a place of exasperation. He sighed and averted his eyes, which were clearing to a less intimidating shade of red.

Suddenly, Sasuke felt incapable and even unwilling. Naruto picked this up and tried to meet it with a sense of confidence, to reassure Sasuke, and desire, to get him back in the mood. Sasuke was not so easily swayed though. He removed himself from Naruto to sit at the edge of his bed. His elbows rested on his knees and his hands gripped into his hair tightly as he slumped over himself in frustration. Naruto sighed, finding it difficult to battle Sasuke when he was feeling so stubbornly defeated, and reached out to touch the man. He didn't move from his reclined position on the bed. He just placed a hand on Sasuke's waist and rubbed gently.

"It's alright, Sasuke," he tried to assure. "It's going fine."

Sasuke shook his head. "It's not."

Naruto rolled onto his side and wrapped both arms around Sasuke, hooking his chin on Sasuke's waist to be able to look up at his face. Their eyes met; Naruto smiled; but Sasuke grimaced. Naruto's smile turned into a frown and he murmured, "Sasuke, what're you thinking?"

Sasuke paused and then answered honestly, "About your pulse." He met Naruto's eyes again.

"That's not an issue, is it?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke shook his head after a moment of pause. "No. The issue is that I can't give you what you want. I can't give you a fair share of control for more than a couple of minutes at a time." Misery and self-loathing filled his heart and mangled his expression. "I can't turn off being a vampire long enough to love you."

Naruto's smile returned, soft and enamored. "I love you too," he whispered, latching on to that spark of positivity.

When Sasuke realized what he'd just let slip, his cheeks reddened slightly and he lifted his head to avoid Naruto's gaze. Naruto just chuckled and squeezed Sasuke more tightly.

"You won't hurt me," Naruto assured. Sasuke was totally unconvinced though, so Naruto went on. "Sasuke, I'm not telling you what to do. I wouldn't even want to, because I know you're capable of deciding for yourself. Me being a bijuu is what makes me capable of being your mate."

Sasuke looked down at him then, curious as to where this was going and why it involved the term 'bijuu'.

"Mates have bonds like this, right? They feel each other the same way we do, but it's only possible because they're both vampires." Naruto paused and Sasuke nodded in confirmation. "But I'm your mate. I might not be a vampire, but we can connect in this way because I'm a bijuu. This connection should be enough for you to believe that we'll never hurt each other. We can't, because we're mates."

Sasuke sighed and shook his head. "It's not the bond, Naruto. If that were the case, I'd have stopped wanting to kill you months ago. It's your power over me. It's you commanding my will."

"No," Naruto disagreed immediately, a very serious gleam taking over his eyes. "I'm not commanding you," Naruto informed. "I have no power over you, Sasuke. Maybe I can tell you to do something and maybe you'd listen, but that's not because I'm in control of you. That's because you'd respect me enough to listen. I have no power over what you feel, only the sharpness of it. I can only help you soften the edges of your mind. I can't take it from you, not that I'd ever want to. It's unlike any other vampire, and that must be because of our bond."

Sasuke saw Naruto's point. Naruto had gained power over Sasuke many months ago, and yet Sasuke had never heeded any of the commands Naruto had made of him since then. He'd never even felt any compulsion to. Why was that? Why was he able to deny Naruto when one exchange of blood and venom was all any other vampire would need to be under Naruto's thumb for as long as Naruto wanted? Was it the bond? Well, what else could it be? It was logical. It was a known fact that vampires with strong enough bonds already in tact could defy the will of a bijuu, so maybe it was because they were already so strongly bound together that Naruto wasn't able to control Sasuke. He was able to, as Naruto had pointed out, influence him but not to control.

The details were hazy and the reasoning was unstable, but it was the only good answer that could be seen. That meant that what they'd accomplished so far was not thanks to Naruto alone, and that was what Naruto wanted Sasuke to see.

"It's not that you can't," Naruto said, repeating something Sasuke had said to him when they'd first reunited. "You're just not trying hard enough."

Naruto had given Sasuke all kinds of grief over that comment, since Sasuke had said it before he truly understood who had still needed to do the growing between them. But Sasuke could see that Naruto recited it now in good nature. No ill feelings to be had at all.

Sasuke nodded. "You're right," he conceded, even allowing himself a small smile, and carded a hand through Naruto's hair. "I'm being so closed-minded that even a dobe like you can understand something quicker than me."

Naruto smiled at the insult-turned-endearing-nickname. "Not closed-minded, just instinctual," he amended. "You just have to learn to let that need for control go, and that extends beyond just letting me dominate you too y'know. You kinda try to control your impulses by giving yourself no room to breathe at all."

"I know, I know," Sasuke agreed. "I have to learn to be comfortable with biting you."

"I'd even go so far as to say that you might be better off biting me more often," Naruto suggested. Sasuke's understanding turned into confusion. "I mean, even when we're not in intimate situations, y'know?" Naruto added.

"No, I don’t know. Why would that be a good idea?” Sasuke asked warily. “We understand each other, and I'll admit that I still need to find a way to be confident in the fact that I won't hurt you, but this ease between us is only because I have your blood and you have my venom. It's clear that your abilities work differently on me, so we don't know how the effects will linger. It's prudent to assume that for some reason our exchange will wear off automatically, even without your permission. We can't disregard that possibility."

Naruto could sense this going in a direction he should have been expecting—he was either going to get an immediate negative or Sasuke was going to turn this into a giant debate—so he tried to get off topic quickly. He would bring this up another time when he didn't have a raging hard-on, which had yet to settle at all, that needed to be taken care of, even if he'd already been stewing over this idea for what seemed like ages.

"Speaking of things wearing off," Naruto interjected. "I think the mood is dying."

"You can't bring up something so serious and then just shrug it off," Sasuke reprimanded. "Knowing you, if I don't make this clear now, you'll only try to seduce me into biting you more often. But that's not okay, Naruto. When we're not in this harmony, I am dangerous. No, I don't wanna hurt you and, yes, I'll try to be more confident in believing that I won't, but there is never any sense in completely denying the very real risk that I could."

Accepting that Sasuke would not be deterred, Naruto readied his argument. "Okay, Sasuke," he began, propping himself up on his elbow. "I think you're being a little dramatic. Yeah, my abilities work differently on you. You don't lose yourself in me, and that's great because I couldn't stand it if you did. It's been a couple weeks though and the effects haven't worn off yet," he pointed out.

"We can’t jump to conclusions about that," Sasuke said quickly. "The effects may very well wear off in the next minute."

"So we're just gonna live the rest of our lives—immortal ones, by the way—living in fear of when you'll finally snap out of your daze?" Naruto retorted.

Sasuke knew how absurd that sounded, so he couldn't find a way to argue right away.

"And maybe the effects did wear off already," Naruto went on to point out. "Maybe this harmony is just natural. I honestly believe that what cut us off from each other before was... y'know... Ren." Sasuke didn't recoil at the name, and Naruto was glad for that. "She's become an accepted part of both our lives now though, so maybe that's how we're able to be this close."

The look in Sasuke's eyes expressed how deeply he wanted to believe Naruto and agree, but Naruto could sense that the words about to come from his mouth would just be more uncertainty. So Naruto went with another angle of attack.

"Okay," he began before Sasuke could speak. "Let's say the effects haven't worn off yet but they will. Because this harmony won't last, if that’s even true, then we'll need to make an exchange often for this to remain."

Naruto wanted to point out how much faith he had in Sasuke to control his urges on his own, but he felt that would be inconsiderate in a way. After experiencing the full onslaught of what Sasuke had to battle with every day, Naruto understood that tamping himself down to the level Naruto had managed to achieve would be a huge feat for Sasuke. And it wasn't to say that he didn't think Sasuke was capable, because he'd just established that he did. It was partially that he didn't wish Sasuke that kind of stress and partially because he feared he held more confidence in Sasuke than Sasuke held in himself that he destroyed the thought as soon as it arose, before Sasuke could even catch wind of it.

"And since an exchange is needed," Naruto went on, "then why limit it only to sexual situations? I mean, I'm sure we'll have a lot of sex," He paused to smirk suggestively at the pleasing idea. "—but why torture yourself in between for no reason at all?"

"No reason?" Sasuke repeated incredulously, finally finding something he could argue with. "Wanting to protect you is no reason at all?"

Naruto rolled his eyes and rolled over onto his back. "Sasuke," he groaned, "all I'm saying is that we could turn our lives into a constant state of peace with each other if you'd just—"

Sasuke interrupted with a gesture of exasperation before verbally cutting in. "You've spent so much time trying to convince me of my natural ability to control myself around you, but now you're telling me that you think the only way for us to stay harmonized is for me to bite you, which, by the way, is an unnatural way to control myself. Why don't you try trusting in our 'natural ability' to stay harmonized through our connection as mates?" he challenged.

"You're the one who thinks you're dangerous. I don't. You just said we'd fall out of harmony, not me."

"You agreed. In fact, you insinuated it by suggesting we need to make an exchange more often in the first place," Sasuke retorted.

"Only after suggesting the complete opposite!" Naruto argued. "You forget the part where I started out believing that the effects would never fade?"

"You suddenly don't believe that anymore?"

"Only because you make it seem like it's impossible," Naruto shot back.

"Because it is!"

"Oh my god, Sasuke! You realize that's how my blood works, right? It holds on to people forever, until I say stop," Naruto pointed out, though it was obvious. "Just because it affects you differently doesn't mean the semantics change!"

"It very well could!" Sasuke argued. "If that changes, then who's to say that the rest won't?"

"Me!"

"Oh, my bad. I trust your professional opinion deeply, Dr. Naruto," Sasuke said sarcastically.

Naruto had no reply. The fire in his eyes didn't dim, but it tinged with a swell of hurt. Sasuke recognized immediately that he'd poked a sore spot out of spite. They were working on trust, and so it was a sensitive subject. It was just cruel of him to say it like that. He sighed, burying his face in his hands.

"I'm sorry."

Naruto sighed too. "Let's be honest. We both have our doubts. All I'm saying is that if we both wanna be cautious, it makes more sense to choose a precaution that doesn't mean we have to never touch each other again."

"Who even suggested something like that?"

"Sasuke, you're telling me that this peace will wear off between us, that we don't have it without the exchange even if we are mates—"

"I'm saying it's something that might need to be built," Sasuke clarified, looking back at Naruto.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Whatever. No matter the details, you think you're gonna just slip through my fingers and one day suddenly this peace is gonna be gone. Don't pretend like you're not gonna constantly deny getting close to me under the pretense that you can't handle your bloodlust if that happens. And if you're always avoiding it, then we'll never get in a situation where you think it's acceptable. And if we never get in a situation like that, then that means we're not touching. Because every time I ever touch you, I'm gonna wanna screw you and that's just a fact."

Sasuke couldn't help but smirk. Though Naruto was completely serious, his choice in wording was humorous. Naruto went on to finish with, "I'd really like to be able to touch you, so I'm just suggesting we try something that doesn't involve becoming abstinent. My simple suggestion: don't limit yourself and just allow me to be your feeder."

Sasuke hissed at the word and Naruto immediately realized he'd made a mistake using that term. He could play around with the idea easily enough with Sasuke, but that term held so much connotation behind it that he should have known Sasuke would react badly to it and shut him down.

"That's sick, Naruto!" Sasuke snarled. "You know how I feel about that idea. I will disgrace neither myself nor you to that degree."

"But why’s it a disgrace?" Naruto argued emphatically. "I'd rather call it something like love."

"No, Naruto!" Sasuke exclaimed, highly disturbed that Naruto would equate such an idea to something as pure as love. "Love is what I'm doing for you. Love is not subjecting the people you care about to this wretched life. Love is refraining from drinking your friends' blood as much as possible. Love is sacrificing a few a good meals and going to extreme measures because you'd rather be protecting someone like you, Naruto. If it was possible to love you any more than I do and not be near you at the same time, I'd leave you in an instant. I've tried. God, I've tried. But I can't, and I hate that because this life is hell and you deserve better."

For a moment, Naruto was stunned by what Sasuke had said. "Don't say that you'll leave, Sasuke," he eventually murmured, feeling shook up as he was forced to revisit the misery they had both suffered in each other's absence.

"I wasn't saying I'm leaving," Sasuke quickly replied.

"No, you were just saying that if you were strong enough, you would," Naruto retorted.

Sasuke could find no grounds to disagree and averted his eyes. To get his point across of what love truly was, those words had made sense. But when he thought about how deeply they went between him and Naruto, it'd been a stupid thing to say. He knew he'd never leave Naruto and it had been stupid to even insinuate that he would. He was insinuating a lot of stupid things today.

Since Sasuke was initiating a silence, Naruto went on talking. "I don't care if you don't wanna commit to it now." Sasuke looked back at Naruto. "That's not a big deal because, honestly, all I want right now is your body," Naruto said bluntly, slowly shifting the focus of Sasuke's mind. "Think about it another time. For now," He paused, pulling Sasuke's attention in deeply. "—bite me."

Sasuke smirked, understanding this request to fall in line not with their conversation but with the mood they'd abandoned. Judging by the bulge at his hip, he could safely assume Naruto hadn't lost any traction at all. Although, he had to admit that he himself had grown quite flaccid. Perhaps a bite would charge him up again. Naruto's reaction to the last one had been quite exciting.

"Where?" he asked.

"Anywhere."

Sasuke moved to sit himself between Naruto's legs and leaned over to kiss a collar bone. He, then, watched as he ran a hand like a feather down Naruto's arm.

"Here?"

Naruto nodded his head, his face already flushed and body anticipating. "There," he agreed.

Sasuke's body shifted until his lips trailed slowly across Naruto's arm as one of his hands snuck down and pulled Naruto's length free of his boxers. Rather than using his hands, Sasuke pressed his hips into Naruto's, languidly rolling them as he took his time in choosing the most juicy and likely pleasurable spot. When his choice had been made, Sasuke held the chosen arm steady with one hand and braced himself with the other on Naruto's hip. He glanced up only momentarily at Naruto's intent face before puncturing the skin. Naruto's arm jerked in shock, which made Sasuke smirk. He retracted his fangs and drew in a slow drag of blood. And when he paused to swallow, Naruto felt the wound pulse lightly. Between the gentle sensation and Sasuke's quickening thrusts against his groin, Naruto felt as if the pleasure was doubled. Eventually, though, it came time to choose a new location.

"Sasuke," Naruto barely breathed out. "Ow."

His arm was beginning to throb in a different way, an uncomfortable way. He supposed there came a point when the slight traces of venom built up to become too much to ignore. If they kept going this way, discomfort would turn into pain. Sasuke didn't hear him though.

"Sasuke," Naruto repeated much louder. "Ouch!"

Sasuke growled into Naruto's skin and Naruto, without thought, focused and sucked a great deal of energy from Sasuke instantaneously. Naruto could feel himself charge with energy, and he quickly pulled his hands from Sasuke's body and raised them in surrender at the dismayed hiss of Sasuke's that followed. The raven's vigor completely diminished and he looked at Naruto with his brows drawn together in questioning.

Naruto smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I just wanted your attention."

"You didn't have to drain me for it," Sasuke complained, his voice unnaturally weak and his body slightly trembling as he glanced away feeling slightly jaded.

Naruto looked guilty, but he couldn't help but think that he'd found a great way to help control Sasuke. He didn't say anything further about it. He just suggested softly, "Make up for it."

Sasuke's eyes flickered back to him, and it was clear that he was silently asking where to bite next.

Naruto smiled. "You decide."

The slight irritation in Sasuke's eyes diminished on the spot and he moved slowly down Naruto's torso, planting gentle kisses everywhere he passed. Naruto's hands could no longer reach Sasuke with such ease and Naruto swallowed back fear for the first time. He could tell that Sasuke had recognized it because his whisper floated reassuringly back up to Naruto's ear.

"I won't hurt you, unless you want me to." He glanced up then. "Plus, you can just suck the vitality outta me with your legs instead."

Naruto chuckled lightly and relaxed as Sasuke kissed past his navel. As he moved ever south, he pulled Naruto's boxers down too. When Sasuke felt Naruto's length poke him in the chin, he kissed the tip softly and lightly flicked his tongue against the slit. He kissed down the underside, leaned back to toss away the boxers, and then licked back up the length to gently suckle the head. Naruto hummed softly in encouragement, but Sasuke paused and looked up at his lover's face.

"I can't retract my fangs," he admitted.

Without hesitation, Naruto replied with a needy, "I don't care."

Next thing he knew, he felt his length slipping in between Sasuke's lips. He moaned appreciatively. Each bob brought more of Naruto's length into Sasuke's mouth, his fangs scraping lightly against its sides. Naruto didn't mind the feeling though. In fact, it added to his pleasure. A knot slowly began to build in Naruto's gut as Sasuke's palmed his sac. It wasn't long before Naruto was beginning to pant.

At that point, Sasuke pulled away and chose to, instead, fist Naruto's length. Understanding why without explanation, Naruto opened his eyes and looked down at Sasuke. One hand steadily pumping Naruto's shaft, Sasuke used the other to push Naruto's leg up by the underside of his thigh. Naruto obliged and bent his leg at the knee, letting Sasuke position it over his pale shoulder. Sasuke, then, took to kissing Naruto's inner thigh, choosing a very sensitive patch of skin that seemed to make Naruto's back slightly arch when touched. Naruto's panting grew heavier the more Sasuke toyed with him, looking up at him with purely sinful eyes.

"Sasuke," Naruto whined, unable to stand the tension.

Lips parted and Sasuke gently pressed his teeth against the skin. Naruto's breath hitched and Sasuke punctured the skin on a rush of exhilaration, causing Naruto to drop his head back on the pillows and gasp softly. All Sasuke could focus on was how hot the blood was in this area as he began to suck vigorously. Every slight reprieve that he gave to swallow, Naruto shuddered and arched his back slightly.

Sasuke's hand moved even more quickly as the pace of his sucking increased and Naruto suddenly demanded, "Other leg!" He, of course, paired it with a slight and only partially voluntary pull of energy.

The shift in his energy alerted Sasuke, making Naruto's demand loud and clear. Sasuke removed his lips and chose a spot that almost perfectly mirrored the one he'd just been abusing on the other leg. Naruto gasped more loudly this time, grabbing fistfuls of sheets as Sasuke plunged in without warning. Sasuke fought to not get lost in the taste of Naruto so that he could stop when beckoned, and Naruto's cries were doing him a great service in that endeavor. Trying to decide if it was pain or pleasure that fueled the blond’s tone kept Sasuke alert and focused on creating pleasure alone. It kept him motivated to stroke Naruto fervently, but even that level of consciousness waned and he became a slave to his desire for more blood.

Naruto directed him the whole time, knowing he'd only be heard if he caught Sasuke's attention by stealing some of his energy. Even though the pleasure was building up so steadily in Naruto that he began to reduce himself to mere fragments of words, Sasuke somehow managed to understand. He kept sucking and changing the angle and style of his pumping fist as Naruto directed. Finally, Naruto released himself with a great howl and, for the first time all night, Sasuke was sure Naruto had felt pure pleasure. Sasuke was only able to dislodge himself from Naruto's thigh when the blond fell completely still for a few conspicuous seconds too long. With great effort, he moved away from Naruto and sat up.

"Naruto?" Sasuke inquired quietly, but there was no response. Sasuke's fangs retracted immediately and he lunged himself at Naruto, shaking his head wildly. "NARUTO!"

"What?" Naruto whined instantly. "I just closed my eyes for a second."

Sasuke huffed out a breath of relief. "I thought you were dead."

"I am. I've died and gone to heaven," Naruto joked. "Now," he continued, sitting up, "sit back and take your turn." He pointed to the headboard, obviously wanting Sasuke to lean against it.

Sasuke raised a skeptical brow. "Really? You're gonna try to get a vampire to sit still during something like that?" he asked, suppressing a chuckle.

"Yes, I am," Naruto confirmed confidently, "so sit back and let me do my work. Don't you dare think about jumping up and hissing my face off either," he warned.

Sasuke hesitated for a moment to admire the man before him. He couldn't believe what he was experiencing. A warmth filled his chest and he kissed Naruto tenderly. "I love you," he whispered when they parted.

Naruto returned the sentiment with a smile but would not be thrown off track. "Now move back."

_To be continued..._


	26. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final scene. I wanted to keep it short and sweet. It took me a ridiculously long time to finish this fic, but I thank you all for taking this journey with me! I love you all. I mean, seriously, I am so touched by the support I’ve gotten and idk I’m just glad!

Sasuke reached out and slowly followed the trail of Naruto's spine with the fingers of his free hand, the other lay bent at the elbow to rest beneath his head. Upon nearing the path's end, Sasuke flicked his gaze up to the back of Naruto's head, watching for any sign of a reaction as he ran his now flattened palm up the length of Naruto's side. He met the shoulder of Naruto's arm, which reached up and underneath Naruto's pillow, and then ghosted back down to the blond's hip.

Carefully, Sasuke closed the space between their bodies, smoothly shifting his arm from supporting his head to resting beneath Naruto's pillow instead. His other hand sat flat against Naruto's lower abdomen. Sasuke spotted a small space for his lips in the crook of Naruto's neck, nuzzling forward to gently kiss the patch of skin repeatedly. Naruto stirred in his sleep only once Sasuke tightened the arm around the blond's waist, not to bring them closer so much as simply emphasize what needy appendage lay wedged between their bodies.

Naruto rolled his shoulder weakly and Sasuke smiled, kissing the shoulder again and then sucking lightly. Naruto breathed a soft sigh of sleepy recognition. Sasuke pulled his hand from Naruto's stomach to cup the man's hip instead, bending his knee to lift his leg up and in between Naruto's already slightly parted legs. Naruto grumbled softly as Sasuke encouraged him to roll further onto his stomach.

Sasuke hummed in soft response against Naruto's ear before kissing that too. Slightly tightening his grip on Naruto's hip, he slowly bucked his hips, whispering, "Naruto. Wake up."

"No," Naruto mumbled grumpily.

Sasuke smiled, tucking his head back into the crook of Naruto's neck. His lips parted as he drew his hips back, a warm wisp of breath tickling Naruto's skin and causing Naruto goose bumps. Naruto determinedly stayed still and silent in the slight pause before a hot huff of breath and a sharp buck of hips caused his back to arch slightly.

"Wake up," Sasuke repeated, more demand to his tone.

He kissed Naruto from his shoulder, up his neck, and to his ear, slowly rolling his hips against Naruto's back. He pulled his hips back far again and Naruto's stomach knotted in anticipation, but Sasuke paused a few seconds longer to re-position himself. He lightly nipped Naruto's ear as he pushed back against Naruto again, except this time his hard member found a new path. Pulled from between Naruto's cheeks, Sasuke found himself pressed, instead, against the soft skin of Naruto's sac.

Naruto released a hybrid of a moan and a sigh, lost somewhere between enthralled and defeated.

"Naruto~" Sasuke softly whined. "Wake up~"

Naruto snorted a soft laugh. "I'm up."

Sasuke grinned, kissing circles in one spot on Naruto's neck and slowly grinding against the blond all the while.

"Always so horny," Naruto commented, smiling as Sasuke gently punctured his neck, a feeling he'd grown used to. It no longer shocked him.

Sasuke was predictable. He was seemingly built on lust, always horny and wanting to hump something. There was no shock for Naruto anymore when he woke to Sasuke like this. In a way, he accepted that it was also partly his fault for sleeping so naked. Although, Sasuke would probably just take his clothes off if he didn't anyway. So, really, there was no getting around it.

It wasn't like Naruto minded or anything. In truth, he loved it. He wasn't nearly as horny as Sasuke, but Sasuke had a skilled knack for changing that in mere moments. Naruto could go from completely uninterested to thrusting into Sasuke's touch in what felt like seconds to the blond. For some reason though, Naruto felt a huge knot tightening his gut. It was nothing sexual. No, this was something else. Nerves maybe?

He'd been getting this feeling with Sasuke for a while now, the feeling that whatever salacious acts ensued were never satisfying enough. How could Naruto feel so dissatisfied when Sasuke thoroughly tended to him nearly every day?

The knot tightened and shifted form when Sasuke's hand suddenly wrapped around Naruto's length. This was the familiar pull of an impending release in its first phase. Naruto shifted his leg, straightening it out to create a tighter space for Sasuke's length. The constant brush of Sasuke's tip against his sac paired with the skill of Sasuke's gentle yet firm fist quickly brought Naruto to a pant. Naruto could not help but buck his hips into the touch, offset by Sasuke who pulled back with every one of his thrusts and pushed back in as Naruto in turn pulled back. It was a delicate and harmonious dance. Sasuke knew Naruto too well, able to anticipate and accommodate even the slightest of shifts in Naruto's position. Naruto wanted to be capable of the same.

He was nowhere near as bold as Sasuke though. Never once had Sasuke breached the topic of full-blown sex, and Naruto knew it was because he was waiting for Naruto to decide that they were ready for that. Naruto was glad for Sasuke's patience, but his desire was ever-present. While he never did, and never would, breach Naruto without permission, he was bold enough to situate them in ways that Naruto would never dare initiate himself. Sasuke's desire to always be at Naruto's back was an obvious insinuation of his deep need to be one. And even when it was not Naruto who was the focus, even when it was the blond who pleasured the raven, Naruto did not feel as skilled as Sasuke. He didn't move the same way, didn't shift and twist with Sasuke as if they were the same entity. It was always Sasuke who kept them in such harmony, or at least that was how it felt to Naruto.

But Naruto wanted to be for Sasuke what Sasuke so easily was for him.

"S-Stop," Naruto suddenly murmured.

Sasuke hummed confusedly in reply, ceasing his bucking but only slightly slowing the pace of his fist and focusing it at Naruto's head.

Naruto gasped breathlessly before rolling onto his side and grabbing Sasuke's hand. He waited for Sasuke to discontinue the indulgence of the bite at his neck, knowing that he wouldn't have the man's full attention while the rush of blood still blurred his head. As Sasuke shifted from sucking to kissing to simply resting his lips against the abused patch of flesh, Naruto closed his eyes and sighed heavily.

Sasuke became suddenly aware of the unease that had settled in Naruto’s gut without his notice. What had he done?

“Naruto…?”

Naruto’s eyes opened and he searched Sasuke’s for courage. Sasuke’s brows knit in questioning as he gazed back at Naruto, and then understanding crept up on him and his brows, instead, rose high to reflect his utter shock at Naruto’s inner monologue.

Naruto could sense a flood of reassurance about to burst from Sasuke, but he wasn’t in the mood for it. He didn’t want Sasuke to assure him that he was enough, that he was loved, that he was skilled in his own unique ways. He wasn't interested in that kind of fluff. What he wanted was a solution to his feelings of inadequacy, and he would not be swayed from the decision he’d made to relieve the pressure.

Naruto rolled away from Sasuke and sat up on his knees. He swallowed some nerves and directed softly, “Sit up.”

Hesitant but nonetheless obedient, perhaps out of unsolicited excitement, Sasuke did as told. The next movements on Naruto’s behalf were a bit of a blur to Sasuke, as he was too deeply engulfed in the arousing imagery of Naruto’s intentions. But with his back against the headboard and a naked, seemingly eager Naruto straddling his lap, Sasuke had to give pause. Accepting as he was of Naruto’s intentions, Sasuke wanted to be sure that they were doing the right thing. Concern filled every facet of his expression, askance mixing in and twisting with a tinge of uncertainty.

Naruto only smiled, his lips curving up softly and his hands lifting to cup Sasuke's face. Gently, he stroked the other's cheeks with his thumbs. Sasuke's hands slid up Naruto's thighs, passing his waist and rounding to quickly caress the blond's back before falling back down to settle on the man's hips. A soft sigh left Sasuke's lungs and he smiled in return, nodding his agreeance.

Naruto realized right in that moment what had just passed between them, and it was suddenly very awkward. All the attention was on him now and, inevitably, what he would do next with his body. It was enough to make his cheeks slowly redden vibrantly. He opened his mouth, knowing what he needed to ask but too embarrassed to actually say it. And so his lips just clamped shut again and the blush spread down even to his neck.

Sasuke chuckled softly, gently rubbing his soon-to-be-official lover's side in an act of comfort. "Don't worry," he murmured. "I already know."

There was a slight pause before Sasuke leaned forward, causing Naruto to sit back fully into his lap. One arm wrapped wholly around the blond's waist, supporting his weight as their chests were drawn together. And Sasuke held Naruto's gaze, his lips frozen in a small but telling smirk and his eyes alight with a mixture of mischief and exhilaration. The longer Naruto held Sasuke's gaze, the more his mood began to assimilate. The bashfulness began to wane and excitement took its place.

Naruto's hands, which had stayed awkwardly stuck to Sasuke's face, now finally changed position. One slid down to, instead, cup Sasuke's neck and the other moved to loosely rest on the arm that wasn't holding him close. He could feel that arm moving, alerting him to Sasuke's actions and making him blush all over again. Again, Sasuke chuckled lightly as he pulled his hand back from his nightstand.

He paused to set the small bottle he'd retrieved, the catalyst to Naruto's embarrassment, on the nightstand and decided to work on recreating a mood. There was no need to jump into it so quickly. As his hand drew back to Naruto's body, it curled around the small of the blond's back and lightly pulled, encouraging Naruto to press even closer to Sasuke. The blond did not deny.

As their chests grew close enough to brush against each other, Sasuke nudged at Naruto's chin with his nose. Naruto understood the gesture for what it was and tilted his head back and slightly off to the side, giving Sasuke a wide expanse of skin to appreciate. As he felt Sasuke's breath tickle his skin, the hand resting loosely on Sauske's upper arm tightened in grip as if seeking anchor.

Sasuke smirked, enjoying the way the tension built between them so easily. He could already feel Naruto beginning to harden again, though he had just expended himself hardly ten minutes ago. In reverence, his lips ghosted up until they were tucked just under the curve of Naruto's chin, where he whispered a quiet affirmation of love. A shuddering sigh left Naruto's lips. Then, Sasuke's mouth meandered down the length of Naruto's neck, leaving soft kisses that terminated at the man's collar bone. He kissed to the second bone of the pair, allowed Naruto to adjust his angle, and then blazed another more indulgent trail up toward the chin before doubling back down again.

All the while, Sasuke's hands roamed as Naruto's back grew so stiff with anticipation that he no longer needed supporting. They trailed up and down Naruto's back, studying every muscle and committing every contour to further memory. They caressed the length of his sides before rounding to carefully explore the supple curve of Naruto's backside. Up, down, in between, and all around—the exploration grew gradually bolder as Sasuke slowly acclimated both himself and Naruto to new and nerve-wrecking territory.

Though neither were fresh to the experience, both could recognize that there was indeed something new and under-explored about the two of them crossing these lines together. They had yet to unite and, still, it seemed so much more intense an interaction than either of them had ever experienced before.

The first time Sasuke delved in deep enough to run a finger ever-so-gently across the hole awaiting him, the sensitivity of the skin caused Naruto to tense and shudder. At that moment, Sasuke's kisses came to a halt and a dire need presented itself. He dispensed of the fluttering touches, lewd as they had become, and moved to cup and grip Naruto's hips with need. The ridge of Naruto's clavicle received a small nip, and then the attention turned more salacious. He leaned back, closing the foot between his body and the headboard, and found leverage to roll his hips. Naruto used both hands to brace himself against the headboard, tilted his head back slightly, and sighed.

Sasuke would swear he grew a few more inches from the sight alone, as if he had room to possibly grow anymore. Becoming more deeply aware of the ache in his nether regions, Sasuke moved himself into a better working position. He moved his butt back a couple of inches to sit up more straight, widened the stance of his legs and bent them at the knee to poise Naruto further in the air, and pulled the blond down further into his lap. Naruto gasped slightly at how quickly the slight changes had been made, recognizing that his weight now rested largely on his hands against the headboard for support. Should his arms buckle, he would find his face buried in the crook of Sasuke's neck, not that such would be a bad fate.

His eyes flickered to regard Sasuke's, which unwaveringly gazed at him with an excited gleam. In his peripheries, he could see Sasuke's hand fidgeting with something, but he chose not to look lest he turn to a bashful mess again. Instead, he resigned to let Sasuke have his way with him and simply give way to the pleasure he knew, or hoped, would soon come. This attitude bolstered Sasuke further. The raven quickly dispensed of the small bottle of lube and both of his hands reached around Naruto's back. His hands dipped into the cleft and unabashedly spread the slippery liquid. One hand paused to rub gently at the entrance he would soon be using while the other reached even further down to massage just before Naruto's sac. Naruto pulled his lower lip between his teeth and gnawed, feeling a slight fire spread in his gut.

Encouraged by this reaction, Sasuke proceeded to slip one finger down to the second knuckle into Naruto. Naruto didn't seem to mind the presence one bit, so Sasuke wasted very little time in applying a second digit. Naruto didn't exactly seem dismayed, but it was obvious that he was beginning to feel the discomfort. It had, clearly, been a long while since he'd last engaged in activities of this sort.

A thought fluttered through Naruto's mind, and Sasuke caught the tail of it before it could slip away. After that, his actions grew significantly more tender. He should have guessed. Naruto had never submitted to someone before. Sasuke, on the other hand...

"We can do this the other way around, Naruto," Sasuke whispered.

Lost in himself, Naruto's eyes shot open in surprise.

"What?" he whispered. "No! It's fine."

Sasuke was unconvinced. "If you're uncomfortable..."

Naruto cut the man off by pressing their lips together in a short kiss. He bent his arms to, instead, rest his elbows against the headboard on either side of Sasuke's head. Their foreheads pressed together and their breath mingled with ease.

"I'm not," Naruto assured in a whispered. He closed his eyes, silently willing himself to enjoy this.

Sasuke could feel the uncertainty, but he could also sense the determination. Not to mention, the need on both ends. So instead of arguing, he offered a solution. He reached around with the hand not sheathed in Naruto's body and grabbed the man's length, smearing the slickness still left on his fingers in every which direction.

"Naruto," Sasuke murmured, watching the man's face twist into pleasure. "Touch yourself."

Naruto's reply was acquiescence. He shifted his head to the side as he removed his arm from its position on the headboard. When he reached down, the first thing he noticed was how painfully hard Sasuke was, and then how pathetic his own state was in comparison. He was overcome by a desire to make Sasuke moan, but Sasuke sensed the hesitation and repeated himself.

"Touch yourself, dobe."

Naruto complied, finding that as he slowly began to pump himself, he was doing Sasuke a service anyway. At this proximity, it was nearly impossible to stroke himself, no matter the speed or angle, without also brushing against Sasuke's length in some way. Indirect as it was, Naruto supposed Sasuke too was receiving some attention.

The atmosphere continued to build slowly upon itself. Sasuke worked his two fingers in Naruto at a slow and careful pace, only beginning to spread and twist his fingers once he was treated to Naruto's first moan. It was soft, but also released right into Sasuke's ear. It sent shivers right down the raven's spine, making his stomach twirl and his throat clench. He hissed softly, feeling the need of his bestial side kicking into gear. Moments later, Naruto moaned again. This time, Sasuke's fangs extended and his mouth began to salivate.

Sasuke groaned. "Naru—"

"Just do it," Naruto panted.

Sasuke immediately bit into the junction of Naruto’s neck and shoulder. Without preamble, Sasuke decidedly employed a third finger in his preparation. It was a careful balance at first, the line between pain and pleasure being very fine and delicate. As Naruto continued to pump himself, though, and as Sasuke's sucking from his neck grew more voracious, pleasure slowly started to win. And when Sasuke finally found the treasure he'd been lurching toward, the space between pain and pleasure widened greatly.

Naruto could not help a shocked but pleased whimper as Sasuke brushed the small bundle of nerves inside his chute. Impatient as he was, Sasuke adjusted his angle as brushed it again, causing Naruto to moan more wontonly. Shortly into the discovery, Naruto was unable to even stroke himself any longer. His forehead now rested on Sasuke's shoulder, his breath fanning heavily against the man's neck with every whimper and moan. Sasuke could feel ecstasy creeping up on him from the exquisite taste of Naruto's blood coupled with the tantalizing sound of the other's voice.

"Naruto," Sasuke groaned, "I can't..." He trailed off, panting, but Naruto understood.

"A-Alright then," Naruto stammered, pushing against the wall to sit upright again.

Sasuke's eyes alighted with renewed excitement as he quickly pulled out and grabbed the bottle of lube again. In a flash, it seemed, his length was slicked and poised for Naruto's attention. Naruto looked down at it nervously before glancing back up at Sasuke's face. The eager expression reminded him of a puppy begging for treats, and so he could not help but to chuckle in admiration. Courageously, he lifted himself, giving Sasuke room to position himself as need be. He watched Sasuke watch himself, waiting until the raven looked back up at him to signify that he was ready.

With a slight nod, Naruto slowly settled down. As soon as he felt the pressure of Sasuke's head against his pucker, his stomach bloomed into a flurry of nerves and Sasuke quickly tried to ease his mood. Sasuke wrapped one arm loosely around Naruto's waist, using the hand not holding his length at the ready for Naruto to gently caress Naruto's back. He kissed and whispered sweet nothings into Naruto's skin. Naruto appreciated the gestures, finding the nerve to push onward, even when he began to feel like he was going to split in two.

It felt as if Sasuke shouldn’t be there within him, but he was and it was made clear by the hitch in his voice that it was beyond magnificent in pleasure for the raven already. Naruto couldn't back out now. And as he thought this to himself, Sasuke caught on and, sure that he was sheathed enough that he could remove his hand, reached around to attend to the head of Naruto's length.

As Sasuke tended to him with such tenderness and care, Naruto felt more encouraged to go through with this task. He sank down further, but immediately decided that the way to go was up. Instead, he pulled up just slightly and then tried to sink down again using the momentum he'd gained. That only made the pain increase so much that he whimpered, though he tried devoutly to refrain from making any noise that was not a derivative of pleasure. He could feel Sasuke's guilt rising, as the raven was stuck between his own pleasure and Naruto's pain, and Sasuke's guilt made Naruto feel guilty.

Naruto could sense this going in a very bad direction. These emotions could spiral out of control between them very quickly, and then they'd never finish.

"Sasuke," Naruto whined, unsure of what he could do to fix this.

"Naruto," Sasuke groaned back, stuck between simply pulling out and pushing Naruto down on his own.

Naruto took a huge breath, sensing Sasuke's trepidation, and just dropped himself.

"No, no, no, no," Sasuke murmured, both of his hands flittering all over Naruto's body. They cupped Naruto's face, bringing their eyes into line. But Naruto's eyes were clenched shut, his breath held tightly in his chest and his eyes prickling with unshed tears.

"Naruto," Sasuke admonished, but Naruto just shook his head no. He wasn't going to have this experience be ruined. It was a given that it would hurt the first time, and it would probably suck for the majority of it.

"We just—" Naruto cut off, gasping for breath. "—j-just have to find that spot again," he choked out.

Sasuke's hand moved down to cup Naruto's hips again. He kissed all over Naruto's face, whispering variations of, "I fucking love you," repeatedly as he slowly encouraged Naruto to lift his hips slightly and sink back down. The movement caused such little friction that Naruto was able to refrain from expressing any more displeasure. Not that it mattered, Sasuke could sense it nonetheless. But all was not yet lost. Even that slight shift was enough for Naruto to feel a brush against that sweet spot inside. It was just a simple tingle, enough to let him know that there was something to grasp for.

"Again," Naruto commanded softly, his voice tight with discomfort.

Sasuke obliged, though he felt guilt bloom in every corner of his heart. As the pain flourished again when Naruto sank back down, Sasuke could feel it biting at his bones and making his body shiver with a cold sweat that was far from pleasant.

"J-Just go, Sasuke," Naruto urged, feeling they were rapidly nearing the point that all pleasure would simply be lost.

Sasuke, again, obliged. He set a slow but steady pace of lifting Naruto and settling him back down. At an excruciatingly slow rate, that tingle within began to bloom. Naruto was reminded of what could help, and he reached down and stroked himself with fervor. The action drastically changed the mood between them. As he paid attention mostly to his head, where he knew he would receive the most sensation, Naruto's body grew hot again. His length slowly came back to stark attention, and he began to take more control over the motion of his own body.

Before long, Naruto was unable to pay attention to his shaft any longer. He needed both hands to steady himself on the headboard to ensure he kept hitting the magical spot that promised nirvana inside his chute. As he braced himself on the headboard, his movements became more convicted and there was a soft thunk as Sasuke fell back against the headboard.

Naruto cracked open his eyes and the sight he saw made his body catch fire all over again. Sasuke lay back against the headboard, his hands now gripping Naruto's thighs tightly. His lips were parted slightly, his brows drawn together, his breath unsteady as he watched Naruto bounce more fluidly in his lap. His eyes roved up and down to take in every facet of the lascivious sight. Instead of causing Naruto embarrassment, the attention caused Naruto exhilaration. To see Sasuke so pleased, so enamored by something that Naruto had created, turned Naruto on to an extreme. He moved, then, with more fervor, short gasps turning into whimpers before morphing into moans. There was a back and forth instigated as they played off of each other's pleasure, the experience coming to a quick crescendo.

There came a point when Naruto began to feel the pleasure ripping through his entire body, and he was unsure if he could keep up his pace any longer of if he could even support himself. Sasuke, too, was on the edge, but he desperately wanted to see Naruto surrender before he gave in.

With a tight and telling grip, he brought Naruto's movement to a halt and immediately laid Naruto onto his back. Naruto didn't waste time trying to register the shift in position. He simply focused on the sudden and intense bloom of pleasure as Sasuke assaulted him at an angle even more blissful than the one Naruto had managed to exploit. Sasuke's pace was blinding and the sound of skin slapping skin soon filled the room, punctuated by escalating cries of indecency.

Sensing Naruto finally approaching the precipice of release, Sasuke adjusted his angle even further, pounding into that blissful spot with even more precision and speed. He would have tended to Naruto's leaking length too, had he not needed both hands to steady himself. Naruto tried to reach down and stroke himself, but simply touching the sensitive flesh was enough to throw him over the edge and he released himself with an unrestrained cry moments later.

Sasuke leaned down and sank his teeth into the junction of neck and shoulder he had yet to abuse, drawing a mouthful of blood as he let himself go with a strong release. He throat constricted tightly, reducing his exclamation of satisfaction to throaty grunts and soft groans. As his hips came to a sporadic and slow stop, he continued to tenderly suck at Naruto's neck, carefully shepherding his lover out of his blinding high.

Once Naruto decided he'd had enough delight for one evening, he lazily tugged on the hair at the nape of Sasuke's neck. Sasuke removed his lips from the wound and lapped at it gently, soothing it further. Naruto sighed heavily, his eyes drooping and a smile settling onto his lips. Sasuke pulled back to look at Naruto in all his afterglow and glory. With a hand, he ran his fingers through slightly dampened hair.

"You are truly beautiful, Naruto."

The blond chuckled breathlessly. "I'm not a girl, Sasuke."

"No," Sasuke agreed, "but still breathtaking nonetheless."

_The End_


	27. Bonus Scenes!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> These are scenes I'd had in the original version, but through rewriting they were deleted.  
> Because I liked them, I decided to make a deleted scenes section for em! So here ya go ^^

**Author Note:** I'd originally had this inserted at the end of chapter 11, detailing the invitation to the Halloween party in chapter 12. I wanted to be pretty consistent with the length of the chapters though, and this scene would have exceeded my limit. In the end, I liked it and thought it was really cute and I really enjoyed looking back on the characters and seeing their personalities all mash together, so I wanted to include it somehow.

**~ ( >^.^)> ~ <(^.^<) ~**

"Come skate with me!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Sure, Sakura," Sasuke agreed, and Sakura squealed with joy. She began to drag him away, but he glanced over his shoulder at Naruto.

"Coming, dobe?" he asked, and Naruto couldn't suppress his stupid grin.

"Yeah, come on Naruto!" Sakura agreed. She didn't seem to mind, as long as Naruto didn't try to hold Sasuke's hand or anything. Naruto nodded and hopped back on the ice in much higher spirits. He took his rightful place beside Sasuke, as opposed to trailing behind.

"I wanted to ask if you like Halloween," Sakura told Sasuke excitedly. "You should come to our Halloween party! Ino and I are hosting it! We just decided!"

"I would love to, Sakura," Sasuke said kindly. "Thank you."

"Oh, you're welcome!" she said happily, melting at the smile on Sasuke's face. "Of course Naruto and Kiba will come too, right?" she added hopefully, looking across Sasuke to Naruto. She already knew her friends would say yes though. Well, at least Naruto would. Kiba hadn't been so reliable. This was the first time he'd actually agreed to go out with them. It might have been too much to expect him to come to the party.

"Of course!" Naruto exclaimed without hesitation. He forgot how annoying Sakura's crush on Sasuke was in favor of how exciting the prospect of a party with his friends would be, especially if this new Sasuke was going to be there. "I'll make sure Kiba comes too," he added.

"Thank god!" Sakura exclaimed. "That boy really needs to come out more often!"

"I agree!" Ino exclaimed, arriving and wedging herself in between Sakura and Sasuke.

"Ino!" Sakura growled.

"All of us will be together and dancing youthfully into the night!" Lee exclaimed, arriving next and wedging himself in between Sakura and Ino. "We will be as happy as springtime!"

"Leeeeee!" Sakura groaned.

"Calm down, Lee," TenTen said as she skated up and wedged herself between Naruto and Sasuke, throwing an arm around them both. "Although, I am pretty excited about it too, especially if Sasuke is going!"

Neji placed his hands between Sasuke and TenTen and then spread them wide. He didn't have to squeeze in between them to make his point any more obvious. Wanting to remain in good standing with everyone, which included Neji, and also looking for any excuse to get next to his dobe again, Sasuke took Neji's gesture as a cue to skate around to Naruto's other side. Neji nodded appreciatively at Sasuke—really, his girlfriend could be too flirty sometimes—and took the spot where Sasuke had just been.

Naruto couldn't help the way his heart soared when Sasuke skated so close to him that they accidentally brushed against each other a few times. They were just accidents and it wasn't like he suddenly had Sasuke's heart in a bag, but he felt giddy anyway. Lacking the abilities that Sasuke was blessed with, Naruto had no way of knowing just how calculated those brushes had been or just how easily Sasuke's heart soared to match his.

"OI! What's going on?!" Kiba called from behind everyone. Naruto turned to look at his friend, beaming. He was more than happy to see Kiba's spirit finally return. He had been waiting for this Kiba to come back for far too long now. He wondered what could possibly make this evening any better.

"Ino and Sakura are hosting a Halloween party!" Lee said excitedly.

"Awesome!" Kiba exclaimed. "I'll even bring a guest," he added, smiling and nudging Gaara in the side. Gaara simply sighed.

Naruto thought that it would have been the perfect time for Kiba to break out his trademarked huff. That would've been the ultimate sign that he truly was back to his old self. Even if the huff never came, Naruto would still smile easily though, because things were going so well. Then, as fate would have it, Kiba huffed like he always used to do and nudged Gaara again. And then, just to prove that the universe was on Naruto's side, Gaara actually smiled. It was a smile reserved solely for Kiba, and Naruto could tell that there was no one else on the planet to Gaara other than Kiba right at that moment. Things were finally falling back into place. Maybe they were even lining up better than they used to be.

Naruto truly could rest easy tonight.

* * *

 

**Author Note:** This scene was at the end of what used to be chapter 18. Chapter 18 got rewritten heavily, so there was no place for this scene anymore. I liked it though, because chapter 18 originally centered around Gaara and Kiba's relationship and Naruto trying to fix it again. Of course, I changed that ending so the scene had to go. I like how it gave insight into what Gaara was thinking, however, so I wanted to put it here ^^

**~ ( >^.^)> ~ <(^.^<) ~**

Naruto simply said Gaara's name, but Kiba recognized immediately what Naruto was doing. His face fell into an automatic expression of dread, his mouth dropping open as he muttered a shocked and breathy, "Don't."

It was too late to take back though, not that Naruto wanted to. He wasn't even sure if the beckoning would work, to be honest. The bond between him and Gaara had been unclear for quite some time now. There was a point in time when he'd been positive that the redhead would come at a moment's notice. Now, however, he wasn't so sure. Hell, the bond might be so shattered between them that Gaara might not even feel the call at all. Those doubts having taken root in his mind, Naruto was actually shocked when Gaara suddenly appeared a few feet before him.

"Gaara," Naruto greeted curtly.

Gaara simply nodded in return. His expression was mostly blank, save for a tiny sneer still pulling slightly at the corners of his lips.

Naruto glanced back at Kiba, who was staring steadfastly down at the ground between his feet. That image of Kiba having been reduced to something so weak and introverted because of what Gaara had done fired him up quickly. He straightened out his posture and turned hard eyes back to regard Gaara, who had to fight the urge to balk at his attempt to be intimidating.

"I know," Gaara said before Naruto could even begin, "but you should save your breath." He paused long enough to flicker a quick glance at Kiba. "You're going to blame me for his state of being, but there's no point."

"What?!" Naruto snapped. "You're saying that it's not your fault?"

Gaara closed his eyes slowly, probably trying to regulate his mood. "I'm not saying that. I'm saying that there's no point in scolding me," he clarified, opening his eyes just as slowly as he'd closed them. "I am well aware of the things I've—"

"The bruises?" Naruto cut in, his temper flaring and hit Gaara like a wave. The redhead clenched his teeth to control how Naruto's emotion was affecting him. "You're aware of those?" Naruto went on. "You remember it all, the pain you caused him, and you don't think you're to blame?"

"I'm not saying that," Gaara ground out.

"Then what are you saying?" Naruto demanded.

"Shut up and I can tell you," Gaara retorted shortly.

Naruto narrowed his eyes before throwing out his arms in an impatient gesture, which only served to further agitate Gaara.

"I'm saying that I cannot take back what I've done," Gaara began. "I expressed before that we should not be a couple, but he refused to accept my judgement." He paused for a moment to ready himself, knowing that Naruto would become outraged again when he said the next words lined up on the tip of his tongue. "I carried out the actions, and I regret them. But the fault, in the end, is on the one who would not accept reality when it was thrust in his face. I would never have..." Gaara just trailed off when Naruto began talking over him loudly.

"Are you serious?! You're blaming Kiba for what you did?!" A few quick steps and Naruto was right up in Gaara's face. "What would your parents say—"

"They'd say all the better!" Gaara spat, shutting Naruto up. "They'd wish I'd killed him just to teach me a lesson! And he's lucky I haven't! If he hates me, Naruto, then all the better because one day I will kill him! And then what do you think that'll do to me?!"

Naruto barked with derisive laughter. "As if I should—"

Gaara didn't have to hear the rest of that sentence to be thoroughly offended by it. He could feel Naruto's aura rolling of him in thick waves, each slamming into him more forcefully than the last. But Gaara had known he'd be creating this vicious visage for himself, and he'd had no qualms with it in the beginning. He knew that people would think he was a sick monster, but he was okay with that because that was what he was. He was unable to control himself around Kiba anymore. Years and years of trying to suppress who he was had finally caught up with him. In the end, his bond to Kiba was not strong enough. He loved Kiba. With all of his heart, he loved Kiba. But it was clear that sometimes love was not enough, especially not for a vampire.

He had been good. He had been so good. He had treated Kiba well. They'd been happy. One day, though, his instincts just came out of him, ripping him apart from the inside out. He'd been destroyed. Everything they'd worked to build up—the tolerance, the ability to suppress the urge, the trust, the love—was all shattered in a day. That was what happened with vampires though. They were beasts. You can cage them and tame them and call them your friends, but they'll never truly stop being wild.

Gaara had actually thought that he could pretend to be human, if only for Kiba and their love, but that was what ruined everything in the end. He'd forgotten who he was, what he was, and he hadn't armed himself against himself. He'd let the facts slip away to the back of his head in favor of playing house. He'd slipped up. And after that first taste of animalistic freedom, he couldn't stop. He couldn't stop himself from wanting to kill Kiba, from wanting to suck out out every last drop of blood. And that frustration built up as he tried to recover from that first incident. He'd tried to come back to himself, to be that man that had loved Kiba for all these years... but he couldn't.

The urges just would not rest. He had to bite, to feed, to kill... to kill. And when he wouldn't allow himself to do that, when he tried to force himself to be more civil than he was capable of being, Kiba had falsely thought it was safe to get close again. It wasn't, but Gaara couldn't say no to Kiba. He couldn't push Kiba away again because he loved the man so heart-wrenchingly much, because he wanted to be touched and held and loved. Even if he couldn't handle it, he'd wanted it. He'd wanted it so badly.

But when Kiba wanted to become intimate again and begin to truly patch up what had been broken, Gaara snapped. He'd known it'd be too much, and it turned out exactly as he'd expected. The urges were stifling, and that made him angry. And out of that anger, he'd punched Kiba. Kiba had done it out of pure innocence and Gaara had sort of condoned it by not shooting it down right away, but those facts could not stop Gaara's reaction. Gaara hated himself for it, but it actually felt good to release his tension... so he impulsively did it again. And then after that, he just couldn't stop. He couldn't stop the satisfaction of releasing all that anger on Kiba. And he couldn't stop himself from feeling like Kiba kind of deserved it either.

Every time Gaara's anger would build up, he'd just release it on Kiba. He never hit hard or long enough to draw blood, knowing that would throw him over the edge completely, but he certainly abused Kiba enough to force the man to start wearing long sleeves and jeans exclusively. Kiba wouldn't give up though. He was so desperate for reconnection that he'd let himself be brutalized in hopes that it would make Gaara concede. He'd thought, naively, that if he could just be a punching bag long enough for Gaara to release all that anger, then Gaara would remember how to be loving again. That never happened though. If anything, Gaara got angrier the longer that Kiba stayed around.

Gaara knew that he had become a beast—to enjoy treating Kiba that way, even if he was also disgusted by it—but that was who he was. He couldn't change that. He couldn't escape that. He was a predator, and Kiba was fated to become his prey from the start. He knew that succumbing to the anger and frustration would only make him even more of a monster than he already was, but it was so satisfying. Sick, but satisfying. He knew it would drive Kiba away too. He knew it would get him the results he wanted in the end.

In his current state, who could blame him? Part of it was just the beast being a beast, but part of it was tactics too. He knew that hurting Kiba enough would make Kiba want to go away. And even though he'd be creating the very image he'd been trying to avoid all his life with his actions, he'd done it anyway. At that moment, though, it seemed like it was all he could do. It was the lesser of the two evils for him. So, yes, he'd known what he'd been doing when he'd started doing it. And so shouldn't he have been prepared for this very situation? Shouldn't he be unaffected by Naruto's response? He had steeled himself for something exactly like this. So why was it that, as those waves of emotion poured off of Naruto and pushed at Gaara's core, his composure snapped like a brittle little piece of nothing?

"How dare you judge me?" he hissed venomously in Naruto's face as he pinned the blond against a nearby tree by his neck.

All Naruto could do was try to pry the fingers from around his throat, but that was a futile effort and he knew it.

"Gaara! Don't!" Kiba shouted, immediately rushing to his friend's aid.

"You live in a fantasy world, Naruto!" Gaara spat.

"Let him go!" Kiba pleaded, arriving at Gaara's side and grabbing the arm holding Naruto's neck while pulling back on Gaara's shoulder. "Gaara, this isn't you," he added, his voice sounding far too soft for the situation at hand.

Gaara snapped his fierce gaze over to Kiba, who flinched in response, before looking back at Naruto and continuing his tirade. "You think I didn't feel his pain?" Gaara asked. "You think it didn't hurt me too? Is that it, Naruto? I may be a monster and I may not be able to escape that, but I still love! And I loved him!"

Gaara finally let Naruto go, completely unfazed by the way the blond gasped furiously for air. He glanced at Kiba, and the two eyes staring at him through a thick haze of fear and tears caused him to falter. He pressed his lips into a thin line as pain shot through his core in a sharp pang, directly conflicting with his almost stifling bloodlust. He turned eyes half as angry but twice at fierce back to Naruto.

"You know nothing," Gaara hissed. By now, his chest was heaving and his throat throbbing.

His vision was clearing from its haze now, but Naruto didn't need to look and see Gaara's expression to know what the redhead was feeling. Naruto had looked at the situation one-sidedly all along. He'd been quick to judge. But as he felt Gaara's reaction really seep into his bones, he felt like he understood. He'd never understood anything since this had all begun back when he'd met Kiba in that art gallery, but he felt like he was beginning to get a fraction of it just now. His thoughts fell upon Sasuke. He could understand Gaara better, however slight that understanding was, and he felt like he could also understand Sasuke by extension too. But he was still a fool, always the fool. Stupid. Blind. Naive.

He tried to stand but fumbled to catch his footing. He managed to stabilize himself using the tree though. "No," he choked out, his voice quiet and raspy, "I know nothing."

Sasuke chose that moment to interject, unable to stomach the defeated tone to Naruto's voice. "That's enough."

The words came to Naruto from his left, but he was thrown off balance when he tried to look over his shoulder in that direction. With his head still feeling rather woozy, he began to topple over. He could have regained his own footing and righted himself, but he felt arms catching him before he could even try. He recognized this scent and the voice that had preceded it, and he wanted to push it all away. His energy was at an all-time low though, what with expending so much of his little reserves on his confrontation with Gaara, so he remained powerless to change anything.

Gaara snarled, but the smooth voice simply repeated itself. "That's enough."

* * *

 

**Author Note:** This scene originally went at the very end of chapter 18 and would've come right after the scene you just read. The new scene with Naruto and Kiba sneaking off before Kiba summons Sasuke used to be Naruto summoning Kiba to try to reconcile their relationship. There ended up being a space for this scene, unlike the one above, in the new chapter, but it just didn't seem to fit. I like it though, so it goes here ^^

**~ ( >^.^)> ~ <(^.^<) ~**

Sasuke placed a gentle hand on Naruto's chin and tried to turn his face up, but Naruto swatted that away, causing Sasuke to sigh.

"Naruto, can we just—"

"No," Naruto interjected, his voice quiet but not soft at all.

Sasuke tried to hide a flicker of pain and disappointment as it passed. But what had he been expecting, if not this? He'd known it'd be like this when they finally met again. So why did it still hurt so much, even after he'd prepared for it? Maybe it was the fact that he'd put so much effort into crafting this very moment. He'd fixed himself. He'd come out of that dark, dark hole he'd been falling into. No more drugs. No more Sai. Well, Sai was dead. But, nonetheless, there was no more of him. No more starving. No more living in misery. He was changing for the better. He was slowly healing himself, but there was some healing still left to do, healing that he knew he couldn't complete without Naruto.

He'd climbed up from the black abyss he'd fallen into with the help of those around him and set his pride aside to become the best version of himself that he could possibly be. All so that he could have Naruto back, so that he could face Naruto properly in this moment. But Naruto wouldn't give him the time of day, and that hurt. Maybe he could never have prepared himself enough for that type of rejection. He brushed it away though. He wouldn't admit defeat so easily, not when it came to Naruto. He opened his mouth to speak again, but Naruto was talking before he could begin.

"I said no," Naruto said firmly. Sasuke paused for a long moment. While Naruto refused to meet the other's gaze, he could still feel Sasuke's eyes on him. And that feeling made his skin crawl for various reasons, none of which he liked. He began to get fed up with the situation, so he repeated himself hotly. "I said no, so go away!"

Sasuke said nothing and made no move to do as he was told though. His eyes swept across Naruto's entire figure—sunken in eyes with dark circles, hollowed face, bones protruding where they never used to. Naruto looked awful, and Sasuke vaguely wondered if that had been how he'd looked too. Now, of course, he'd gotten himself together. He was back to a healthy weight, but it seemed like Naruto had taken his place instead. That upset him though. He wanted to see Naruto thriving, not struggling to get by. Eventually, Sasuke's silent stare became too irritating for Naruto to resist, so he snapped harsh eyes to Sasuke.

"I said—"

"There they are," Sasuke breathed.

The words were spoken so softly that they were barely a wisp of air. Yet, they were strong enough to silence Naruto's voice and freeze whatever had been roiling inside of him. Somehow, the ghost of a smile even slipped onto Sasuke's face, and that stunned Naruto for a good moment longer. He couldn't help but think that Sasuke looked really well. Last Naruto had seen him, he was a frail excuse for a human being. He was a real mess, much like Naruto now was, but he looked healthy now. He looked... he looked really good. That moment passed, though, and Sasuke began to see and feel things swirling within Naruto again. It was unspoken, but there was another clear rejection radiating from the blond.

"I know," Sasuke said, too lightly for Naruto's taste. "You said no. But you didn't even let me finish."

"No," Naruto repeated yet again, faintly noting that he was beginning to sound like a broken record.

Sasuke sighed at the regression. "But I have so much to say," he argued. He tried carding his hand gently through Naruto's hair but it was swatted away again, though with far less aggression this time. "Won't you hear me out?" Sasuke asked, his voice so soft and inviting.

Naruto contemplated the question for a long moment, but then he realized that there was nothing to contemplate. He'd been pacified by the flicker of affection he saw in Sasuke's eyes. They were, clearly, impairing his judgement, so he opted to look away again. "I don't have the time," he finally said.

Sasuke's temper flared at this, but he tamped it down. "You have lots of time," he replied surely.

"And how would you know?" Naruto said, scoffing lightly. "You tossed me from your life, remember?" he added in a spiteful murmur.

It was clear that Naruto had no idea he'd been the sole object of Sasuke's attention since that fateful day. He hadn't actually been forgotten, not even for a moment. Still, though, Naruto was none the wiser to that fact, and that gave the blond reason to be hurt. And watching Naruto hurt made Sasuke hurt too. He paused for a split second, just long enough to feel those words sting him in his core, before he spoke.

"I can feel you," Sasuke informed, "even if you ignore me. I know... what you've done... what you do..."

Naruto's brows furrowed slightly in confusion. "What the hell does that mean?" he asked, turning back to Sasuke and finding that the man's eyes had hardened. That certainly made it easier to look at him, now that they weren't so sweet and adoring. "You're stalking me?"

"No. I just... I know what you do," Sasuke repeated significantly. "Like I said, I can still feel you."

Naruto's eyes widened slightly when he finally understood what Sasuke was referring to. His cheeks tinted ever so slightly with red, partly from embarrassment and partly from anger. What the anger was for, he wasn't sure. But for some reason, he felt like Sasuke was invading his privacy and that made him mad. Sasuke could sense all of this in Naruto, so he hurried to explain himself further. Though, he didn't really know how either.

"I can sense you on a whole other level," he added. "I know things... things that I don't wanna know." He gave up on explanations at that point and decided to just get back to the point. "I think you can brush aside your lovelust long enough for us to talk is what I wanna say."

Naruto's cheeks went redder. "No."

Sasuke resigned to defeat, but he wasn't going to leave without one last try. "Meet me," he requested.

Naruto rolled his eyes and groaned with frustration. "How many times do I have to say no?"

"Fine," Sasuke conceded. "Don't meet me. Just take a detour over to my studio then," he suggested instead. "There's something there for you."

"I don't want it," Naruto said simply.

"Why not?" came the quiet reply.

Naruto clenched his hands into fists, if only to keep his fingers from trembling. "Because, Sasuke, you're not the first to abandon me, and I know very well that gifts and tokens of memories only make it worse." After a second, he added, "I don't want to remember you. I want to forget. So keep it."

Sasuke knew he should leave at that point, but he was unable to leave this last thought unspoken. "Our bond," he began softly, "it's not broken yet... That should count for something."

He stayed still and silent for a moment, allowing Naruto time to respond if he wanted to. But the blond was just as still and silent, although exceptionally tenser. Those were the very words Naruto had been trying to avoid since their falling out, though they had always been ever-present in the back of his mind. He'd always known that the bond hadn't been broken. Maybe it couldn't be broken. Even he, a bijuu, couldn't manage to put a dent in it. And it was his own bond to begin with! But he wanted to pretend that it was gone anyway. He'd tried to sever it, but that was how he'd learned that it took a great deal of will to actually break something that had once been so important to you. It was there always, haunting him. But he didn't want that. He didn't want that at all.

He just wanted to keep living in the fantasy he'd created with Kiba. Was that so much to ask? For just a little bit of peace?

* * *

**Author Note:** This scene actually largely made it into the story as a transition in chapter 22 when Kiba is finally changed by Gaara and Naruto is told to leave the suite. He goes down to a suite below as directed by Kankuro and Temari, and he finds Sasuke. The scene isn't exactly the same in the published version, but a whole lot of the substance is. Just the beginning and end of this scene were changed up, but I like this original version too xD

**~ ( >^.^)> ~ <(^.^<) ~**

Naruto paused to just be impressed by the space of suite one for a long moment. When the elevator doors tried to close him in again, though, he jumped out. First to demand his attention was the far wall, which was covered entirely in glass. He noticed that the studio had the same adjustable tint feature as the living suites above because that was all that could explain why it was so dark in the bulk of the space, except for the window pane farthest to the right, which was only tinted about half as much as the rest. The lighting let in by the tinted windows was dim. The tint at its highest could make a room fairly dark, but Naruto knew the suites above well enough to know that the tint on the darker panes was only at about halfway, which was enough light to see the features of the room just fine.

He glanced around the left half of the room, noticing the lounge area nestled next to the windows and the different types of storage cabinets that were directly to his left. He glanced briefly to the right, long enough to note that the area was a kitchen, and turned his attention to the most interesting part of the room. The bulk of the right half of the space was taken up by two columns of tables covered in various pieces of art. Most of the pieces were paintings, but not all of it was on canvas. Naruto could see pottery, old furniture that had been painted over, and a variety of other knickknacks that had been given an artistic touch.

Naruto mused that the space was probably Gaara's. Perhaps his art had been cathartic for him as of late. He tried to imagine Gaara in his usual crazed state painting a picture, which made him smile in amusement. The room was so quiet that Naruto could hear his footsteps echo when he started to moved toward the corner of art. Most of the art strewn about the tables was in line with the brightest window pane, so he was able to make out their features fairly well.

He meandered slowly around the table closest to him. He paused at each piece only momentarily, but he stopped for a prolonged period at a sculpture of a woman that was set on the ground between two tables. She was a few inches shorter than Naruto and only the basic form was complete while the molding clay to create the features had just begun to be put on. Almost everything below the neck was just a hard cast, but even so Naruto admired her form. There was some molding on the chest where two clavicles took slight shape. There was some clay on the neck, but most of the molding had been focused on the face so far.

Her features were beautiful. There was a small, pixie-like nose that peeped out. Her lips were thin, almost a familiar shape. It was her eyes that really caught Naruto though. These were, by far, the most detailed pieces on her form so far. They had, clearly, been worked on tediously. He stepped closer, peering carefully at the detail, but his concentration was interrupted by a quiet sound. His heart started slightly and he whipped his head toward the windows. He leaned to be able to see past some of the taller art pieces and realized that there was a form sitting right in front of the window. It became clear to Naruto by what he saw that the person was painting and the noise he was hearing was brushstrokes.

Naruto watched the motion of the person's hand, not moving or saying anything. He listened intently. Shouldn't he have heard a person in a room this quiet? He focused to zone in on the sound of life—a heartbeat, slow and steady. Then came the slight whir of breath, which Naruto decided was abnormally slow. He was watching the person's hand as it painted strokes across the canvas, and there was no indication that the person wasn't breathing properly. Yet, Naruto decided that there was no way anyone could breath that soft and slow.

Just when he made a stark decision about what type of being he was seeing, the figure paused and turned their head. With the light behind them, it was difficult for Naruto to make out any definite features. What he'd seen so far was basically a silhouette, but he could see a slight smile on the person's profile as the light curled around their face. He didn't need his sight to know this person though. He'll he didn't need any of senses. Just his heart would do.

Uncertain about how to go about this situation, he called out, "I'm sorry." He almost flinched at how loud his voice sounded as it echoed through the quiet space. "I didn't mean to... intrude..." he added, talking more softly.

The form shrugged and looked back at the canvas. "You like her?"

Naruto recognized that voice so well. He knew why the art looked familiar in style. There was no way it could be Gaara's. Naruto had seen maybe three or four pieces of Gaara's art and the feeling hardly stuck in his chest. Gaara was an amazing artist, but Sasuke was a true genius. The one piece Naruto had seen of Sasuke's had been powerful enough to stick in his memory like glue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it, the official end. I have to thank everyone for sticking with me through the story. I am so thankful for all of the encouragement to keep going and get it done, for all the support for various decisions I've made throughout the story, for constructive criticism and reader feedback on things I would never have noticed without ya'll. I am so glad to have had such an active audience willing to participate throughout this whole endeavor and I had a lot of fun writing this story for you guys. In the end, it was a bumpy ride, but it was fucking great. I love you all, and I am endlessly grateful.
> 
> As I continue my hiatus, I'm going to be working on some stories and trying to get them solid before I attack them on such a public forum. Procrastination is my worst flaw! Not sure when I'll be active here again, but keep tabs on me because ya'll know by now that I'm unpredictable and I can pop up at any time. I'll never disappear permanently though, at least not any time soon. I still have so many stories to share with ya'll!
> 
> ~Boo


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